Citation Nr: 18159920
Decision Date: 12/20/18	Archive Date: 12/20/18

DOCKET NO. 11-10 268
DATE:	December 20, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for paranoid delusional disorder and depressive disorder is granted.  
FINDING OF FACT
The paranoid delusional disorder and depressive disorder present during the appeal period resulted from military service.  
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for paranoid delusional disorder and depressive disorder have been satisfied.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. 
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from December 1969 to October 1973.
This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a January 2010 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  In February 2017, the Veteran did not appear at a hearing before the Board.  Without good cause shown for the failure to appear, the request for the hearing is deemed withdrawn.  38 C.F.R. § 20.704(d).
In April 2017, the Board issued a decision granting service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and denying the Veteran’s claim for an increased rating for a service-connected left ankle disability.  The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  In a Decision dated in June 2018, the Court remanded the Board’s decision to consider whether the Veteran is entitled to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder other than PTSD.  The Court did not disturb the Board’s decisions regarding PTSD and the left ankle disability.
Generally, to establish service connection, a claimant must show: (1) a present disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service, the so-called “nexus” requirement.  See 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303; see also Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004).  
The medical evidence demonstrates the Veteran has been diagnosed with not only PTSD but also paranoid delusional disorder and depressive disorder.  See Nov. 7, 2009 VA Compensation and Pension Examination.  
The Board previously granted service connection for PTSD based upon a diagnosis rendered by a VA psychiatrist in May 2007.  When diagnosing PTSD, the psychiatrist specifically noted the Veteran’s February 2007 complete psychiatric evaluation by VA.  Notably, the February 2007 evaluation details the Veteran’s reports of paranoia, anxiety, and depression stemming from an incident during his military service.  PTSD was later diagnosed as resulting from this incident, and in so doing the VA psychiatrist in May 2007 essentially indicates the Veteran’s symptoms of paranoia, anxiety, and depression all stem from the in-service incident and were best accounted for by a diagnosis of PTSD.  Other clinicians may have diagnosed the symptomatology differently, but ultimately the opinion the Board previously found most probative suggests all of the symptoms are related to service.  
Given the above, the Board finds that service connection for paranoid delusional disorder and depressive disorder is warranted.  

 
Nathan Kroes
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Russell P. Veldenz, Counsel