Citation Nr: 21021156 Decision Date: 04/09/21 Archive Date: 04/09/21 DOCKET NO. 18-42 038 DATE: April 9, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force from October 1964 to October 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from an October 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). Recently, in October 2020, the Board remanded the Veteran’s claim for a new VA examination and etiology opinion. The Veteran was provided a VA examination in December 2020. The examination report shows diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and depressive disorder secondary to his panic and anxiety disorder. The examiner noted that the Veteran was afraid of flying, did not like to travel, and that the Veteran started to experience panic attacks in 1989. The Veteran reported that he felt fear during service when he was on an airplane that experienced engine trouble. The examiner provided a negative etiology opinion concerning the Veteran’s claimed anxiety disorder with panic disorder and depressive disorder. The examiner stated that while the Veteran articulated very well that he was afraid during service, there was no evidence of the claimed typhoon or airplane trouble during service and the Veteran did not seek mental health treatment during service or until 1989. The examiner determined that the Veteran’s current disorders manifested post-service due to the stressors of a failed business venture and extreme stress when a doctor told him that he would have to undergo medical tests. However, the December 2020 VA examiner did not address the Veteran’s daughters’ lay statements that their father had changed after service and that he had experienced intense fear and anxiety prior to his documented 1989 treatment for panic attacks. In addition, the Veteran has also indicated that he had mental health symptoms prior to 1989. Given the above, the Board finds that an addendum opinion is required. Though the examiner is correct that the Veteran’s claimed PTSD stressor of being aboard an airplane with engine trouble has not been verified for the purposes of a diagnosis of PTSD, the Veteran is still considered competent to address his fear of planes and travel beginning during active service. The examiner also did not address the Veteran’s statements indicating onset of his mental health symptoms prior to his first documented treatment in 1989 and did not address the lay statements from his daughters who indicated that the Veteran experienced fear and anxiety prior to 1989. Accordingly, remand is required to obtain an addendum opinion. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Request an addendum opinion from the December 2020 VA examiner, or, if unavailable, from another suitably qualified examiner, as to the etiology of the Veteran’s panic disorder, anxiety disorder, and depressive disorder. The claims folder must be made available for review. The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s claimed psychiatric disabilities were caused by active service. In doing so, the examiner must address the Veteran’s lay statements and those of his daughters indicating that the Veteran experienced mental health symptoms prior to his first documented treatment in 1989. The examiner must also discuss the Veteran’s reported onset of fear of airplanes and travel that began during his period of active service. A full rationale must be provided for any opinion reached. 2. Then, readjudicate the remanded issue, and if still denied, return the matter to the Board for appellate review if otherwise in order. WILLIAM H. DONNELLY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Seay, 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.