The Veteran's initial rating for major depressive disorder with anxious distress is denied, and he is granted a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss. The Veteran also has been granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability since December 6, 2019.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's MDD symptoms do not meet the criteria for a higher than 50 percent rating due to his social and occupational functioning being limited but not deficient. His right ear hearing loss is rated at 0% based on the results of audiometric testing. The Veteran has been granted TDIU since December 6, 2019, as he is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Major depressive disorder with anxious distress (MDD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- May 24, 2024
- Citation
- A24027396
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 A24027396.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted an effective date of December 8, 2023 for service connection of major depressive disorder with anxious distress (MDD). The Veteran's claim was filed on December 8, 2023, and the denial became final in November 2023. The earliest date of entitlement is September 2021.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and assigned a 20% rating for the Veteran's low back condition, while denying increased ratings for her psychiatric and neurological conditions.
- Denied
The Veteran's major depressive disorder with anxious distress has been rated at 70 percent, but the Board found that his symptoms do not warrant a higher rating as they do not meet the criteria for total social and occupational impairment.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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