The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims and granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Depressive Disorder), a respiratory disorder, headaches, and muscle pain. The diagnoses are related to in-service stressors during the Gulf War.
The deciding factor: The VA psychiatrist confirmed the Veteran meets the DSM-5 criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD based on his service in Iraq during combat situations, and a private psychologist provided an opinion linking the Veteran's anxiety and depression disorders to his PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired Psychiatric Disorder (including PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Unspecified Depressive Disorder), Respiratory Disorder, Headaches, Muscle Pain
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 16, 2022
- Citation
- 22009297
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 22009297.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for initial compensable ratings for obstructive sleep apnea and headaches, finding that the evidence does not support a finding of persistent daytime hypersomnolence or other manifestations consistent with a compensable disability rating under the criteria established by Diagnostic Codes. The matter is remanded to obtain additional information from the Veteran regarding his headaches and their impact on his daily life.
- Granted
The Veteran's OSA is granted as secondary to PTSD, but his headaches are denied due to lack of service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's headaches, which manifested as very frequent and prolonged attacks causing severe economic inadaptability, are granted a 50 percent disability rating for the entire period on appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran seeks an earlier effective date for a 30 percent disability rating for his service-connected headaches, which was awarded with a noncompensable rating at 0 percent. The Board is remanding the claim due to inadequate examination and the need for a new VA examination to evaluate the severity of the Veteran's headaches without considering the ameliorating effects of any medication.
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