The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including PTSD, substance abuse disorder (alcohol and cannabis use), depressive and anxiety disorder, and unspecified psychosis are granted as secondary to his service-connected PTSD.
The deciding factor: Service connection is established for the Veteran’s acquired psychiatric conditions due to their being proximately due to his service-connected PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- {"condition_name":"Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)","diagnosed_as_per_DSM-5":true,"related_to_in_service_stressor":true}, {"condition_name":"Substance Abuse Disorder","types_of_conditions":["Alcohol Use Disorder","Cannabis Use Disorder"]}, {"condition_name":"Depressive and Anxiety Disorder"}, {"condition_name":"Unspecified Psychosis"}
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 7, 2020
- Citation
- A20018063
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.
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- Granted
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- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for anxiety but denied it for sleep apnea, finding that the Veteran's sleep apnea was less likely than not related to his active service or service-connected acquired psychiatric condition.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches as proximately due to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
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