The Veteran's service-connected depression was granted a 70 percent rating from February 24, 2009, due to occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms included depressed mood, chronic sleep impairment, flattened affect, disturbances of motivation and mood, difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships, impaired impulse control, neglect of appearance and hygiene, and difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances including work or a work like setting. These symptoms supported the assignment of a 70 percent rating.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder (depression)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- October 15, 2025
- Citation
- A25088815
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 948 · Granted: 52% (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 A25088815.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran is seeking an effective date prior to May 1, 2023, for the grant of service connection for major depressive disorder. The Board finds that efforts should be made to find any possible missing records and correspondence regarding the 1981 claim.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the veteran's appeals for service connection for anxiety, depression, and PTSD due to concurrent election of Direct Review while Higher-Level Review was pending.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 7, 2015, for the award of service connection for painful surgical scar, left knee, and a 10 percent rating for cluster headaches. It denied earlier effective dates for other issues.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's major depressive disorder was increased to a 100% disability rating effective March 4, 2017, and other issues were resolved with grants or denials.
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