The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed as adjustment disorder, circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder, and unspecified anxiety disorder, finding that the condition is at least as likely as not related to the Veteran's service-connected keloid scars.
The deciding factor: The evidence in favor of the claim includes opinions from a treating nurse practitioner and a VA examiner, both concluding that the Veteran's current psychiatric conditions are secondary to his service-connected keloid scars. The Board resolved reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor.
- Claimed conditions
- adjustment disorder, circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder, unspecified anxiety disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 26, 2025
- Citation
- A25017761
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,549 · Granted: 26% (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 A25017761.
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 service-connected unspecified anxiety disorder alone warrants a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU), and he has additional service-connected disabilities rated at least 60 percent. The Board grants special monthly compensation (SMC) at the housebound rate.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for acquired psychiatric disability, including unspecified anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, kleptomania, and PTSD is being remanded due to the AOJ's failure to obtain medical records from his periods of incarceration or a medical opinion regarding his diagnoses.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, including unspecified anxiety disorder (claimed as PTSD, memory loss, a sleep disorder, and uncontrollable alcohol disorder), is being remanded due to the need for a medical opinion.
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