The Board granted service connection for major depressive disorder (MDD) related to the Veteran's active duty. The Veteran had more than 30 years of Army service, including active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.
The deciding factor: The Board concluded that the criteria for entitlement to service connection for MDD have been met, giving the Veteran the benefit of the doubt due to an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 13, 2025
- Citation
- 25000381
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 25000381.
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 Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service-connected, with a rating of 10 percent.,The Veteran's back disability remains at a 40 percent rating. The Board finds the evidence does not support an increase to higher ratings.,The Veteran's radiculopathy of the femoral nerve in both lower extremities are each granted initial 20 percent ratings.,Service connection for GAD, bilateral hearing loss, and chronic kidney pain is remanded.,A compensable disability rating (greater than 0 percent) for chronic kidney infections is also remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, lumbar spine disability, right hand disability, left hip disability, TBI, and left knee disability have all been denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding of service connection for any of these conditions.,Specifically, the VA examination in December 2019 determined that the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus were not related to his military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection on multiple conditions have been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been remanded due to a failure by the AOJ to obtain his complete service personnel records and service treatment records, which were received prior to the issuance of the decision on appeal.
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