The Board granted service connection for depressive disorder with anxious distress as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities due to an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on a private medical opinion that found the Veteran's current depressive disorder with anxious distress was more likely than not related to her service-connected conditions, including hypertension, left wrist sprain, residuals of left ankle sprains, eczema, and recurrent left eye pterygium.
- Claimed conditions
- depressive disorder with anxious distress
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- March 28, 2025
- Citation
- A25028876
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for shin splints, a low back disability, and a left ankle disability. The effective date for the award of service connection for unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress was also denied.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability (claimed as posttraumatic stress disorder) was dismissed because the greatest possible benefit, including an earlier effective date, had already been granted.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of April 17, 2022 for the award of a 50 percent rating for depressive disorder with anxious distress.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected depressive disorder with anxious distress and cannabis use disorder prevented him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment, granting a TDIU effective September 11, 2020.
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