Citation Nr: 18141531 Decision Date: 10/10/18 Archive Date: 10/10/18 DOCKET NO. 18-06 286 DATE: October 10, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a variously diagnosed acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression/anxiety, is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving all doubt in the Veteran’s favor, he has an acquired psychiatric disorder related to his period of active service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304, 4.125. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active military service from July 1964 to July 1966. In October 2018, the Veteran appeared and testified before the undersigned at a videoconference hearing. In Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009), the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) held that the scope of a mental health disability claim includes any mental disorder that may be reasonably encompassed by the claimant’s description of the claim, reported symptoms, and other information of record, i.e., that matter(s) of service connection for other psychiatric disability(ies) diagnosed is/are part and parcel of a service connection for a psychiatric disability claim (and that such matter(s) is/are before the Board). A May 2014 rating decision denied service connection for PTSD, and a June 2016 rating decision denied service connection for depression/anxiety; the Veteran appealed both decisions. Therefore, the issue is characterized accordingly as service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder. Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder Under VA law, service connection may be granted for any current disability that is the result of a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may also be granted for a disease diagnosed after discharge, where all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Establishing service connection generally requires medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. See Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2009). The Veteran contends he has an acquired psychiatric disorder that is related to his active service. Here, all three elements to establish service connection have been satisfied. First, the record reflects a current psychiatric pathology, including diagnoses of adjustment disorder with depression, and other specified trauma and stressor-related disorder. These diagnoses are documented in a May 2017 VA examination, report as well as a March 2018 private examination report. Second, the Veteran reports, that while performing his military duties, his unit frequently came under attack from sniper fire. He indicated that he and his unit often feared for their lives. The Veteran’s service personnel records reflect that he served in the Republic of Vietnam in an artillery unit. The specific stressor events he has described have not been corroborated, and are likely incapable of corroboration due to insufficient information (or being of a type for which there is no documentation). The Board acknowledges, however, that he served in circumstances consistent with a fear of hostile military action. Finally, as to the third element, that of a nexus between the Veteran’s psychiatric disability and the in-service stressor, a May 2017 VA opinion; as well as a March 2018 private opinion, documents that his current psychiatric disability is related to his in-service stressors. Indeed, the March 2018 private examiner reasoned that although the Veteran does not meet the full criteria of PTSD, he has intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviors, negative alterations in cognitions, and mood and marked alterations in arousal all related to his combat experiences during active duty. He indicated that the Veteran’s symptoms would have met the DSM-5 criteria for PTSD in the past. In summary, the Veteran has variously diagnosed psychiatric disorders, and a VA examiner, as well as a private examiner (whose competence the Board finds no reason to question), has attributed such disorder to the acknowledged circumstances of his service. All requirements for establishing service connection are met. Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is warranted. H.M. WALKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. McPhaull, Counsel