The Veteran's psychiatric disorder, from May 24, 2011 to May 15, 2020, is granted an initial 70 percent rating based on occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed symptoms such as difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances, near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriate and effectively, and passive suicidal ideation that more nearly approximated the criteria for a 70 percent rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Somatic Symptom Disorder, Depressive Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- November 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20073930
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, and somatic symptom disorder, as well as presumptive service connection for basal cell carcinoma under the PACT Act. Service connection was denied for chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, right restless leg syndrome, left restless leg syndrome, an increased rating for psychiatric disorder, bilateral hearing loss, a left forehead surgical scar, and allergic rhinitis.
- 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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, residuals of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and multiple musculoskeletal conditions but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder of generalized anxiety disorder and depressive disorder, as secondary to the service-connected left ankle disability. Service connection was also granted for pseudofolliculitis barbae, and a 20 percent rating was assigned for left ankle achilles tendonitis from October 23, 2023.
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