Back to BVA DecisionsGRANTEDSpecial Benefit NO SPECIAL BENEFIT Docket No. 210630-169397
MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER
J. PARKER · 2026 · Case ID: A26035328
Summary
The veteran, who served from October 1974 to January 1976, appeals the denial of service connection for PTSD and an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood. The Board broadened the scope of the appeal to include any acquired psychiatric disorder. The veteran claimed PTSD due to field artillery work and training in Germany, including fears of being killed by errant mortar rounds and the death of a fellow soldier. The Board considered evidence of record up to the May 2021 RO decision and evidence submitted at a June 2023 hearing. The primary evidence supporting the claim was a July 2023 private examination, which opined that a depressive disorder began in service due to a significant decrease in performance and increase in behavioral issues after the veteran was transferred to Germany. This opinion was supported by service personnel records reflecting behavioral changes and a contemporaneous August 1975 Report of Medical History where the veteran reported depression due to nervousness. The Board found this evidence probative of an in-service onset of depressive symptoms. While a May 2021 VA examiner provided a negative nexus opinion for adjustment disorder, focusing on PTSD criteria, the Board found the private examiner's focus on the depressive disorder more persuasive. The Board also noted that the veteran's substance abuse disorders were secondary to the depressive disorder. Resolving reasonable doubt in the veteran's favor, the Board granted service connection for a depressive disorder, finding it had its onset in service and continued since separation. The Board noted that any PTSD symptoms could not be differentiated from the depressive disorder and would be rated together.
Rationale
Private examiner opined depressive disorder began in service due to behavioral changes after transfer to Germany.; Service personnel records reflect behavioral changes and deterioration in performance.; Contemporaneous August 1975 Report of Medical History noted "depression due to nervousness."
Full Decision Text
Citation Nr: A26035328 Decision Date: 04/15/26 Archive Date: 04/15/26 DOCKET NO. 210630-169397 DATE: April 15, 2026 ORDER Service connection for a depressive disorder is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The evidence shows a current diagnosis of a depressive disorder, an alcohol use disorder, a cocaine use disorder that is in remission, an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 2. The current depressive disorder had its onset during service. 3. Symptoms of a depressive disorder have been continuous since the in-service onset. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, the criteria for service connection for a depressive disorder have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran, who is the appellant, had active service from October 1974 to January 1976. The instant case is on appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a May 2021 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) rating decision that denied service connection for an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood. Notification of the May 2021 VA RO rating decision was received in June 2021. The modernized review system, also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA), applies to this case. Although the claim was for service connection for PTSD, the Board has broadened the scope of the appeal to include service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder. See Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009) (holding that a claim for benefits for one psychiatric disability also encompassed benefits based on other psychiatric diagnoses and should be considered to be within the scope of the filed claim). In the June 30, 2021 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), the Veteran elected the Hearing docket. A Board hearing was held before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) on June 23, 2023. A copy of the June 2023 Board hearing transcript has been associated with the claims file. The Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the May 2021 VA RO rating decision on appeal, as well as any evidence submitted by the Veteran or representative at the June 2023 Board hearing or within 90 days following the hearing. 38 C.F.R. § 20.302(a). If evidence was submitted either (1) during the period after the VA RO issued the decision on appeal and prior to the Board hearing, or (2) more than 90 days following the hearing, the Board did not consider it in its decision. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.300, 20.302(a), 20.801. Service Connection for a Depressive Disorder is Granted. As described above, the Veteran filed a claim seeking service connection for PTSD, contending at different times that aspects of field artillery work led to currently diagnosed PTSD. The Board has broadened the claim to include service connection for any acquired psychiatric disability. Service connection may be granted for disability arising from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). As a general matter, service connection for a disability requires competent evidence of: (1) the existence of a current disability; (2) the existence of the disease or injury in service, and; (3) a relationship or nexus between the current disability and any injury or disease during service. The evidence shows current diagnoses of a depressive disorder, an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depression, an alcohol use disorder, a cocaine use disorder that is in remission, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). See July 2023 Private Opinion; July 2018 VA Opinion; May 2021 VA Examination. After a review of all the lay and medical evidence of record, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in relative equipoise on the question of whether there was an in-service onset of a depressive disorder, with symptoms continuing since service separation, such that service connection can be granted on a direct basis due and; (3) a relationship or nexus between the current disability and any injury or disease during service. The evidence shows current diagnoses of a depressive disorder, an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depression, an alcohol use disorder, a cocaine use disorder that is in remission, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). See July 2023 Private Opinion; July 2018 VA Opinion; May 2021 VA Examination. After a review of all the lay and medical evidence of record, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in relative equipoise on the question of whether there was an in-service onset of a depressive disorder, with symptoms continuing since service separation, such that service connection can be granted on a direct basis due to an in-service incurrence (38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d)). In a July 2023 private examination, the private examiner described a detailed review of the service treatment records, service personnel records, and VA treatment records, and then summarized the information from the Veteran that was found during a clinical interview. After this examination, the private examiner opined that the primary disability was a depressive disorder that began in service when the Veteran served in field artillery in Germany. The private examiner opined that the substance abuse disorders were secondary to the depressive disorder. In support of this opinion, the July 2023 private examiner reasoned that the service personnel records reflect a change in behavior since the Veteran was transferred to Germany. The Veteran performed well in service initially, including receipt of a letter of commendation, a citation for good performance, and participation in a leadership program. The July 2023 private examiner then reasoned that, when the Veteran was transferred to Germany, there was a significant decrease in the Veteran's performance, characterized by getting in arguments and fights, having low motivation, requiring constant supervision, and overall deterioration in performance and deportment. A few months after the onset of these behavioral concerns, the Veteran started drinking and required substance abuse treatment before discharge. Given the substantial drop in performance once the Veteran was transferred to Germany and given a clinical interview that documented extensive substance abuse treatment and participation in group and individual therapy after service separation, the private examiner opined that the current depressive disorder had its onset in service. Consistent with the factual assumptions in the July 2023 private examiner's opinion, service personnel records from service prior to deployment and after deployment to Germany reflect the change in behavior and comportment that the July 2023 private examiner noted. Additionally, in an August 1975 Report of Medical History, which is a document contemporaneous to service in which a veteran is asked to report any symptoms or diseases that he or she has currently or has had previously, the Veteran reported that he had experienced frequent trouble sleeping, depression or excessive worry, and nervous trouble of any sort. The reviewing medical provider wrote that the Veteran experienced "depression due to nervousness." The Board finds that this report provides additional probative evidence of the onset of depressive disorder symptoms during service. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran has an extensive substance abuse history, for which service connection cannot be granted as a primary disability. For claims such as this one filed after October 31, 1990, service connection cannot be granted for a disability that is the result of a veteran's own willful misconduct or the result of his or her abuse of alcohol or drugs. 38 C.F.R. § 3.301(a). Drug abuse is the use of illegal drugs (including prescription drugs that are illegally or illicitly obtained), the intentional use of prescription or non-prescription drugs for a purpose other than the medically intended use, or the use of substances other than alcohol to enjoy their intoxicating effects. 38 C.F.R. § 3.301. While alcohol abuse and drug abuse that are a secondary result of an organic disease or disability is not considered willful misconduct (see 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.301(c)(2), 3.301(c)(3), where service connection for a primary disability has been denied, secondary service connection is precluded as a matter of law. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a), (b) (providing for service connection for a disability only where such disability is proximately due to, the result of, or aggravated by, a disease or injury that is already service connected). Here, the Board is finding that the primary disability is the depressive disorder, which the Veteran then led to the substance abuse. As such, the evidence does not show that direct service connection would be excluded due to willful misconduct. The Board finds that the evidence is at least in relative equipoise on the question of whether the depressive disorder symptoms that started during service have been continuous since service separation. The earliest VA treatment records in the claims file document diagnosis for See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a), (b) (providing for service connection for a disability only where such disability is proximately due to, the result of, or aggravated by, a disease or injury that is already service connected). Here, the Board is finding that the primary disability is the depressive disorder, which the Veteran then led to the substance abuse. As such, the evidence does not show that direct service connection would be excluded due to willful misconduct. The Board finds that the evidence is at least in relative equipoise on the question of whether the depressive disorder symptoms that started during service have been continuous since service separation. The earliest VA treatment records in the claims file document diagnosis for depressive symptoms and a substance abuse disorder. See, e.g., July 1999 VA Treatment Record (diagnosing adjustment disorder with depressed mood with no significant change in symptoms since the past provision of an antidepressant); September 1999 VA Treatment Record (diagnosing depression with suicidal ideation but without any plan or intentions, which resulted in a changed antidepressant prescription). Although these treatment records are many years after service separation, the evidence shows that psychiatric symptoms were diagnosed at the initial visits to a VA medical center. Additionally, the Veteran testified to symptoms of nightmares and anxiety starting during service and continuing since service separation. See June 2023 Board Hearing Transcript. The Board acknowledges that a May 2021 VA examiner provided a negative nexus opinion with respect to a diagnosed adjustment disorder. In this analysis, the May 2021 VA examiner opined that there was "no obvious connection between service and the adjustment disorder diagnosis," based primarily on a finding that the Veteran did not have the claimed PTSD due to alleged drills and training in Germany, as well as being told that a fellow soldier died. The Veteran reported that there had been a diagnosis of PTSD and that he believed the symptoms of PTSD started during service due to fears that he would get killed during training, such as through an errant mortar round landing in the wrong place. See June 2023 Board Hearing Transcript. Throughout the course of treatment, the Veteran has also reported additional stressors, which include a belief that a fellow soldier who was a friend was killed during service and, alternatively, that PTSD symptoms were due to a post-service fire. See, e.g., June 2023 Board Hearing Transcript; July 2018 VA Opinion; March 2018 Lay Statement. The Board finds that the allegations related to a potential PTSD stressor, some of which would have been during service and some of which were after service, do not lead to the conclusion that the Veteran had no psychiatric problems during service. The May 2021 VA examiner focused primarily on whether the criteria were met for PTSD. The July 2023 private examiner instead focused extensively on the depressive disorder diagnosis, and in fact said that the Veteran did not meet the full criteria for a PTSD diagnosis. To the extent that the Veteran has symptoms that are attributable to PTSD, the Board finds that these symptoms cannot be differentiated from the symptoms associated with the current depressive disorder. As such, they should be rated together with the service-connected depressive disorder when determining the initial disability rating. See Mittleider v. West, 11 Vet. App. 181 (1998) (providing that when it is not possible to separate the effects of a non-service-connected disorder from those of a service-connected condition, all of the rating will be attributed to the service-connected disorder). Given the above, the Board finds that there is some probative evidence in this case that supports a finding that the current depressive disorder had its onset during service and that symptoms continued since service separation. The Board will resolve reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran to find that the current depressive disorder symptoms had their onset during service and continued since service separation. 38 U.S.C. § 5017; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. For these reasons, the Board will grant the appeal for direct service connection for a depressive disorder. J. PARKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Smith, Associate Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.