The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder. The decision found that there was no current diagnosis of PTSD in accordance with DSM-IV criteria and insufficient evidence to establish a direct link between the claimed conditions and service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners could not provide a definitive opinion on whether the Veteran met the DSM-IV criteria for a PTSD diagnosis, due to ethical requirements. The Board found no persuasive medical evidence of a current diagnosis of PTSD within the appeals period upon which to predicate a claim of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD and major depressive disorder), Major/unspecified depressive disorder, Personality disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20062654
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 20062654.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, as there was no verifiable stressor and insufficient supporting evidence of claimed in-service trauma. The Veteran's current diagnoses were not found to be related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a failure to provide a VA examination, which is necessary to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's acquired psychiatric condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability and a personality disorder, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to her active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and personality disorder, due to the need for further development of the record.
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