Citation Nr: 18155153 Decision Date: 12/04/18 Archive Date: 12/03/18 DOCKET NO. 16-51 512 DATE: December 4, 2018 ORDER Service connection for major depressive disorder is granted. Service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran’s current psychiatric disorder is major depressive disorder which probative evidence indicates was incurred in service. 2. The medical evidence of record does not diagnose PTSD. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for major depressive disorder are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. 2. The criteria for service connection for PTSD are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty in the Marine Corps from December 1994 to September 1997. He appeals for service connection for a psychiatric disorder. His appeal is being treated as one for service connection for major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which have both been mentioned. 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); Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999); Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498, 506 (1995), aff'd per curiam, 78 F.3d 604 (Fed.Cir.1996) (table). Based on the evidence, the Board finds that service connection is warranted for major depressive disorder, the only current psychiatric disability shown. In order to establish entitlement to service connection for PTSD, there must be medical evidence diagnosing the condition, credible supporting evidence that the claimed inservice stressor actually occurred, and a link, established by medical evidence, between current symptomatology and the claimed inservice stressor. 38 C.F.R. 3.304. In this case, the evidence of record does not show a clear diagnosis of PTSD. A VA examiner in May 2016 examined him and indicated that he does not have a diagnosis of PTSD that complies with DSM-5. VA treatment records include an October 2015 mental health note which documented that the Veteran denied all symptoms of PTSD, and a May 2015 PTSD screen was negative. Service treatment records show that the Veteran was seen in August 1995 for an emergency evaluation of his mental health status. He had been referred to mental health because of suicidal ideation 2 days prior. He had been on a weight control program and was trying to get himself back into shape. There had been incidents where the lance corporals in his unit had been pushing him harder than anyone else, and he felt that he was being picked on. It came to a climax the past Wednesday when he was put on report for not having a clean uniform and shoes. On clinical evaluation, his stated mood was sad. His affect was appropriate, and cognitive and thought processes were normal. The assessments were: Adjustment disorder; and rule out dysthymia (depression). He was returned to duty after being evaluated and no longer having suicidal or homicidal ideation. He claimed service connection for psychiatric disorder in October 2015, and in September 2016, a VA psychiatric examiner examined him and found that he had major depressive disorder which was at least as likely as not incurred in service. The examiner noted that the Veteran claimed that he had no prior mental health problems prior to service, and that per his self-report and a review of available records (which included service treatment records which were reviewed and mentioned), his symptoms of major depressive disorder seem to have begun during his service. There are elaborations of record by the Veteran of how he felt in service, including in September 2016, when he indicated that his first sergeant would not let him go to base medical on a regular basis after he had hurt his knee. He reported that he was depressed due to his knee injury, which is now service connected. He stated that his depression became worse as it became more evident that his unit no longer cared if he got better. He reported that he had psychiatric symptomatology in service including depression, night sweats, and nightmares. He also reported at the time of the May 2016 VA examination that he was bitter towards the Marines for discharging him from the service because of his weight and also possibly due to guilt by association with some other Marines who were found to be selling drugs. While the May 2016 examiner also recorded the Veteran’s reports of stressors that have not been verified, the medical opinion furnished by the VA examiner in May 2016 is supportable by the evidence of record, including evidence showing the development of an adjustment disorder in service and the contemporaneous notation at the time, after the Veteran had been suicidal, that he may have dysthymia. Therefore, service connection will be granted for the currently diagnosed major depressive disorder which the preponderance of the evidence indicates was incurred in service. The Board thanks the Veteran for his almost 3 years of service and wishes him well in the future. M. C. GRAHAM Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD C. Lawson, Counsel