The Board granted a 70 percent rating for major depressive disorder, but no higher, for the entire period on appeal.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms of depressed mood; anxiety, suspiciousness; panic attacks more than once per week; near-continuous depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; chronic sleep impairment; mild memory loss, such as forgetting names, directions or recent events; flattened effect; difficulty in understanding complex commands; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships; difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances, including work or a worklike setting; suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; impaired impulse control, such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence and neglect of personal hygiene were found to warrant a 70 percent rating.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- December 17, 2025
- Citation
- A25109235
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 709 · Granted: 38% (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 A25109235.
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 Veteran's claim for specially-adapted housing assistance and a special home adaptation grant was denied because he does not meet the criteria for either benefit based on his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder, is being remanded due to the need for additional development regarding his alleged stressors.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder has been dismissed as the appellant requested withdrawal of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, should be remanded due to a failure to verify a stressor related to the death of his two best friends in Iraq. The AOJ needs to develop this stressor.
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