The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder other than a substance use disorder and a substance use disorder, as secondary to the service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder is related to his service, and his substance use disorder is secondary to his service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder other than substance use disorder, Substance use disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25088518
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 878 · Granted: 46% (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 A25088518.
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 an acquired psychiatric disorder and a substance use disorder, finding that the Veteran's disorders are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including as PTSD and/or mood disorders, finding that there is no evidence to support a link between his current mental health conditions and his military service. The primary diagnosis found was alcohol use disorder, which is not compensable under VA law.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, alcohol use disorder, substance use disorder, substance-induced depressive disorder, and substance-induced anxiety disorder.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and substance use disorder as secondary to GAD.
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