Citation Nr: 21006504
Decision Date: 02/04/21	Archive Date: 02/04/21

DOCKET NO. 17-56 286
DATE: February 4, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for a personality disorder is denied. 

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Veteran has a diagnosis of an unspecified personality disorder, which is not a disability for which service connection may be granted.

2. PTSD is service-connected. 

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for personality disorder have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304, 4.9, 4.125, 4.127.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from April 1966 to December 1968 and from October 1969 to December 1972. 

This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from  a February 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2) and 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c). In May 2019, the Veteran testified via videoconference hearing before the undersigned. A copy of the transcript has been associated with the Veteran’s claim file.  

In August 2019, the Board found that new and material evidence had been submitted to warrant readjudication of the PTSD claim, and remanded this claim on the merits to the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) for further development.  

In an August 2020 rating decision, the RO granted entitlement to service connection for PTSD. In the decision, it was noted that depressed mood was contemplated within the assignment of the 70 percent rating. In an August 2020 supplemental statement of the case (SSOC), the AOJ denied entitlement to service connection for a mental disorder other than PTSD. It was noted that the Veteran had a diagnosis of unspecified personality disorder and that service connection for this condition was prohibited under 38 C.F.R. § 4.9. The Board agrees.

Service connection may not be granted for congenital or developmental defects, including personality disorders. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303(c), 4.9. Beno v. Principi, 3 Vet. App. 439, 441 (1992) (stating the "[r]egulatory authority provides that personality disorders will not be considered as disabilities"). See also 61 Fed. Reg. 52,695 -98 (Oct. 8, 1996) (regulatory history providing that personality disorders are not diseases or injuries for VA compensation purposes).

The Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against service connection. Service connection for PTSD was established in an August 2020 decision. Symptomatology associated with depressed mood is contemplated within the assigned 70 percent rating. The only remaining psychiatric disability is unspecified personality disorder. Service connection may not be granted for this condition as it is a congenital or developmental defect.  Accordingly, the Board finds that entitlement to service connection for a personality disorder is not 

 

warranted. The benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine is not for application and the claim is denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 4.3.

 

 

K. Parakkal

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	M. Kovacs, Associate Counsel

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.