The Board denied the veteran's claim for an increased disability rating for major depressive disorder with anxious distress and alcohol use disorder, finding that the severity of his symptoms more closely approximated a 70 percent rating rather than a 100 percent rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms did not cause the level of impairment required for a higher disability rating, as they were less severe, less frequent, and shorter in duration than those contemplated by a 100 percent rating.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder with anxious distress, alcohol use disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- November 6, 2024
- Citation
- A24072696
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a liver condition, finding it to be secondary to the Veteran's service-connected depressive disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded for further development and consideration of the Veteran's claims for service connection for various acquired psychiatric disorders.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the appeal for service connection for a mental health condition and denied service connection for an eye condition. The claims for autoimmune limbic encephalitis with non-paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis (NPLE) with GAD65 antibodies and dystonia and dystonic tremor were remanded.
- Granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of August 3, 2022, for the assignment of a 70 percent rating for major depressive disorder with anxious distress.
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