The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 70 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder with major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorder, finding that his symptoms did not more closely approximate total occupational and social impairment.
The deciding factor: The severity, frequency, and duration of the Veteran's PTSD symptoms have not more closely approximated total occupational and social impairment manifesting in passive suicidal ideation, depressed mood, anxiety, chronic sleep impairment, intrusive thoughts, difficulty controlling his anger indicating a degree of impaired impulse control, disturbances in motivation or mood, difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective relationships, high level of self-isolation, and some working memory impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with Major Depressive Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder, Tension Headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- March 21, 2025
- Citation
- A25026634
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,963 · Granted: 32% (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 A25026634.
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 Veteran's PTSD is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity in Vietnam, and his alcohol use disorder is due to his PTSD. Service connection for PTSD with alcohol use disorder has been granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's PTSD rating was reduced from 70 percent to 50 percent, effective February 20, 2025. The Board finds the reduction improper and restores the 70 percent disability rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for PTSD with alcohol use disorder was denied, and he was granted a TDIU. The Board found that the symptoms did not meet criteria for a 100% disability rating.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted SMC at the rate of 50% for his service-connected conditions from April 20, 2020 to June 7, 2021.
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