Citation Nr: 18153854 Decision Date: 11/28/18 Archive Date: 11/28/18 DOCKET NO. 16-27 431A DATE: November 28, 2018 REMANDED Service connection for an unspecified psychiatric disorder to include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served honorably from February 1975 to August 1983. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) denying the Veteran entitlement to service connection for his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Where a Veteran asserts a claim for a psychiatric disorder, the Board is to consider benefits for other psychiatric disorders with similar symptoms. The Veteran’s entitlement to benefits for the other psychiatric disabilities is within the scope of the original claim. Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1, 6 (2009). The Board thus characterizes the issue as entitlement to service connection for an unspecified psychiatric disorder to include PTSD, depressive disorder and anxiety. Service connection for PTSD will be granted if there is medical evidence diagnosing the condition in accordance with § 4.125(a), a link, established by medical evidence, between the current symptoms and an in service stressor; and credible supporting evidence that the claimed in service stressor occurred. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f). The Veteran contends in an August 2015 medical examination that he was the victim of a sexual assault while he was at Fort Bragg in 1975. He states that 4 or 5 soldiers approached him and he had to fight them off. He also contends in his VA examination from September 2010 that he discovered the bodies of two friends and fellow soldiers who killed themselves, which contributes to his trauma. He also contends that he was responsible for cleaning up the crash site of an airplane accident that required him to remove two bodies. There is medical evidence in the VA examination from August 2015 that shows a finding for PTSD. Medical records, however, do not indicate the required link for service connection. The Veteran is unable to establish, with credible supporting evidence as required by 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f), that the in service stressor occurred. The Veteran is credible to report symptoms of a disability, as well as recount events from his time serving. However, in order to establish connection, the Board must find that the lay evidence has been corroborated by other service records. There is no indication from the service records to show that the Veteran was the victim of a sexual assault, and records do not indicate the Veteran discovered the bodies of two other soldiers who had killed themselves. Because of this, the Board must remand in order to determine whether the claimed events could be the cause of the Veteran’s PTSD. Service records indicate complaints during service of anxiousness, nervousness, depression and hypervigilance. The Board expands the claim to include other psychiatric disabilities that share the same symptoms, including unspecified depressive disorders and anxiety. A VA examination is required to determine whether the symptoms the Veteran experienced in service are indicative of, or have caused, the Veteran’s PTSD or other unspecified psychiatric disorders. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Attempt to corroborate the Veteran’s in-service stressors, including evidence from service records of a claimed sexual assault, finding two soldiers’ bodies, and cleaning up the site of a plane crash where two bodies were found. Also, request the Veteran’s private treatment records as they relate to psychiatric treatment. If more details are needed, contact the Veteran to request the information. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any psychiatric disorder. The examiner must opine whether any psychiatric disorder, including PTSD or unspecified depressive disorder to include anxiety is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including stress related to finding the bodies of soldiers, and attempted sexual assault. 3. Indicate whether in service symptoms of anxiousness, nervousness, depression and hypervigilance could have led to, or been indicative of, PTSD or other unspecified psychiatric disorders. Explanatory rationale must be provided citing to specific evidence in the file supporting conclusions. If the requested opinion cannot be provided without resorting to mere speculation, the examiner must state this and specifically explain why an opinion cannot be provided without resorting to mere speculation. M. H. Hawley Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Drew Kelly, Associate Counsel