The Veteran's unspecified depressive disorder and traumatic brain injury are rated at 70 percent since the date of service connection, September 9, 2019. The symptoms include suicidal ideation, mild memory loss, near continuous depression affecting function, and difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms, including suicidal ideation and mild memory loss, align with the criteria for a 70 percent rating under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders (General Rating Formula).
- Claimed conditions
- unspecified depressive disorder, traumatic brain injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- November 12, 2024
- Citation
- A24073542
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 703 · Granted: 47% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A24073542.
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 determined that additional development is needed for the claims on appeal, including obtaining any outstanding treatment records and scheduling VA examinations to assess the current severity of service-connected disabilities. The Veteran's representative also requested reevaluation of his service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's anxiety and depressive disorders were rated at a 70 percent disability rating effective May 6, 2015.,Effective May 6, 2015, the Veteran was granted an earlier effective date for DEA benefits.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current unspecified depressive disorder is related to his service-connected disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected unspecified depressive disorder with insomnia disorder is rated at 30 percent, and the Board has determined that this rating is not sufficient to reflect his disability picture.
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