The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress and alcohol use disorder, is rated at 100 percent disabling since April 28, 2010. The appeal for a TDIU was dismissed as moot due to the grant of a higher rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's psychiatric condition produced total occupational and social impairment with symptoms such as suicidal ideation, anxiety, chronic sleep impairment, irritability, social isolation, disturbances of motivation and mood, panic attacks, hypervigilance, short-term memory loss, near-continuous depression affecting function, impaired impulse control, neglect of personal appearance and hygiene, difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances, inability to establish effective relationships, and suicidal ideation.
- Claimed conditions
- unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, alcohol use disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- December 2, 2020
- Citation
- A20017861
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a liver condition, finding it to be secondary to the Veteran's service-connected depressive disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded for further development and consideration of the Veteran's claims for service connection for various acquired psychiatric disorders.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, MDD, and alcohol use disorder, as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right knee disability and tinnitus.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal for service connection for a psychiatric disability, including depression, alcohol use disorder, cocaine use disorder, and cannabis use disorder.
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