The Board denied the Veteran's petition to reopen her claim for service connection for GAD and also denied her claim for service connection for an acquired mental disorder other than GAD, including major depressive disorder with anxious distress. The Board found that new and material evidence had not been received to reopen the GAD claim, and determined that there was no causal connection between any current psychiatric condition and active service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that there is no evidence of an acquired mental disorder other than GAD having onset in active service or being causally connected to active service.
- Claimed conditions
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Major depressive disorder with anxious distress
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20065053
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 service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder including a generalized anxiety disorder as the evidence did not support a finding that such condition was incurred in or aggravated by active military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including GAD, MDD, PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and foot disabilities. The claim for NSC pension benefits was dismissed as moot due to a higher disability rating.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 100 percent rating for his service-connected major depressive disorder with anxious distress, an effective date of January 2, 2024, for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA), and Special monthly compensation (SMC) at the housebound rate from the same date. The appeal seeking entitlement to a total disability rating for individual unemployability (TDIU) was dismissed.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial increased rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability from March 8, 2010, to May 19, 2014, and denied a higher rating thereafter.
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