The Board granted service connection for a depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, sleep apnea secondary to the depressive disorder, and tension headaches secondary to the depressive disorder.
The deciding factor: The evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran's psychiatric symptoms including depression had their onset in service following the incidents described by the Veteran and continued until the post-service diagnosis. The Board finds these statements competent and credible.
- Claimed conditions
- Depressive Disorder with Alcohol Use Disorder, Sleep Apnea (secondary to Depressive Disorder with Alcohol Use Disorder), Tension Headaches (secondary to Depressive Disorder with Alcohol Use Disorder)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 13, 2025
- Citation
- 25006480
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,604 · Granted: 65% (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 25006480.
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 November 16, 2021 for the award of service connection for Erectile Dysfunction (ED) as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected Depressive Disorder with Alcohol Use Disorder and Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) for loss of use of a creative organ.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder and hypertensive heart disease prevent him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment, and he is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) and special monthly compensation (SMC) (s).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran is unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation due to his service-connected depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, but the criteria for TDIU have not been met prior to October 2, 2018. The case is remanded for further consideration.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal was denied for various ratings, including those related to his depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder and right knee disabilities. The appeals were not granted as the symptoms did not meet the criteria for a 100% rating.
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