The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, schizoaffective disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder with psychotic features, panic disorder with agoraphobia, paranoid delusional disorder, psychotic disorder NOS, and anxiety disorder NOS. The decision is based on the evidence showing that these conditions began during service and are related to his combat-related stressors.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's reports of traumatic psychiatric stressors in combat situations in service were consistent with the circumstances of his service in Vietnam, and there was continuous psychiatric symptomatology since his return from Vietnam. The medical opinions did not take into account these lay statements and continued symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, schizoaffective disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder with psychotic features, panic disorder with agoraphobia, paranoid delusional disorder, psychotic disorder NOS, anxiety disorder NOS
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19196205
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,604 · Granted: 65% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19196205.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining in-service psychiatric treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, along with alcohol use disorder, has been granted a 100% evaluation effective from April 8, 2021. The disability causes total occupational and social impairment.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia and alcohol use disorder caused his sleep apnea.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for back pain and neck pain, finding no current disability. The claim for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is remanded due to inadequate consideration of all potential exposures.,The claim for an acquired psychiatric disability (PTSD) is also remanded due to a lack of development of the Veteran's therapist's records.
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