Citation Nr: 18147387
Decision Date: 11/05/18	Archive Date: 11/05/18

DOCKET NO. 16-42 083
DATE:	November 5, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to a total rating based on individual employability due to service-connected disability (TDIU) is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities preclude him from maintaining substantially gainful employment.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to TDIU have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.15, 4.16, 4.19.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active military service from October 1968 to October 1971.
As indicated in the October 2018 rating decision, the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities, including but not limited to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and type II diabetes mellitus (and associated lower extremity peripheral neuropathy), meet the criteria for schedular consideration for TDIU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a).  The question thus becomes whether his service-connected disabilities preclude him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.
The Board has reviewed the relevant evidence of record, notably May 2014 VA neurological examination and multiple VA mental health examinations.  The neurological examination reflects that the Veteran suffers from gait ataxia, which compromises his ability to maintain balance without use of a cane.  The Veteran reported that he could not walk more than 30 minutes, that he had great difficulty going up the steps of his apartment, and that his foot discomfort became so severe that he had to quit working for some time in 1997.  The mental health examinations reflect that he becomes uncomfortable and ill at ease in enclosed, interior spaces and that his PTSD continued to cause chronic sleep impairment and anxiety, particularly in crowds.
Viewed as a whole, the combination of limiting physical symptoms from the neuropathy and the array of symptoms from PTSD affecting the Veteran’s ability to interact and work in enclosed spaces render it substantially less likely than not that he would be able to maintain substantially gainful employment of either a physical or sedentary nature.  Accordingly, TDIU is granted.  
 
A. C. MACKENZIE
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Evan Thomas Hicks