The Board denied an initial rating higher than 70 percent for PTSD but granted a total disability rating due to individual unemployability resulting from service-connected PTSD.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms of PTSD, while significant, did not meet the criteria for a higher initial rating. However, his impairment due to PTSD was sufficient to preclude him from securing or following substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and industrial background.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder with unspecified depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- November 3, 2025
- Citation
- A25095217
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 713 · Granted: 31% (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 A25095217.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's acquired psychiatric condition was manifested by symptoms of depressed mood, chronic sleep impairment, difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships. The Board found that the Veteran did not meet the criteria for a higher 70 percent rating from July 6, 2017, to April 5, 2022, but his assigned 70 percent rating was proper from April 6, 2022.
- Granted
The Board has granted earlier effective dates for the increased evaluation of PTSD with unspecified depressive disorder, TDIU, and eligibility to Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits. The effective date is set at April 11, 2016.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD with unspecified depressive disorder has been rated at 70 percent since June 30, 2007. The Board found that the impairment from his condition more nearly approximates total occupational and social impairment prior to June 9, 2011, but for the period beginning June 9, 2011, with resolution of doubt in favor of the Veteran, he has been rated at 100 percent.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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