The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, including anxiety disorder NOS, depressive disorder NOS, PTSD, and MDD, is found to be as likely as not attributable to an in-service military sexual trauma (MST) incident. Service connection for this condition is granted.
The deciding factor: The Board finds the element of a nexus between the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability and his in-service MST incident has been met based on the Veteran's reported reasons for not disclosing the MST incident sooner after its occurrence, as well as other evidence of record indicating ongoing psychiatric symptoms since separation from active service.
- Claimed conditions
- anxiety disorder NOS, depressive disorder NOS, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20005329
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,170 · Granted: 38% (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 20005329.
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 due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and PTSD. The Veteran will be asked to provide additional medical records and undergo a VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder, is being remanded due to the need for additional development regarding his alleged stressors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development regarding the Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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