The Board denied the appellant's claim for an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for specific phobia-situational (crowds/enclosed spaces), and unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, finding that his symptoms did not meet the criteria for a disability rating of 100 percent.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the appellant's symptoms more closely approximated those associated with a 70 percent rating, resulting in occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood. The appellant did not meet the criteria for total occupational and social impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- specific phobia-situational (crowds/enclosed spaces), unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- September 26, 2023
- Citation
- 23053414
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 23053414.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress and alcohol abuse, finding that there is no evidence of a current disability or a link to active service.
- Denied
The Veteran's disability picture, primarily due to Parkinson's disease and related manifestations, does not meet the criteria for SMC at the statutory housebound level as his other disabilities do not yield a combined rating of 60 percent.
- Denied
The Veteran's disability picture, primarily due to Parkinson's disease and related manifestations, does not meet the criteria for SMC at the statutory housebound level as his other disabilities do not yield a combined rating of 60 percent.
- Granted
The Veteran's unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress is found to be proximately due to his service-connected coronary artery disease, and thus granted on a secondary basis.
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