Citation Nr: 21021314 Decision Date: 04/12/21 Archive Date: 04/12/21 DOCKET NO. 16-57 569 DATE: April 12, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety, is granted. FINDING OF FACT The currently diagnosed psychiatric disorder is at least as likely as not caused or aggravated by stressful events in service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, depression, and anxiety, have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from October 1986 to October 1990. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified at a virtual hearing before the Board in February 2021; a transcript of the hearing is associated with the claims file. Service connection will be granted if it is shown that the veteran suffers from a disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty, during active military service. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Disorders diagnosed after discharge will still be service connected if all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d); see also Combee v. Brown, 34 F.3d 1039, 1043 (Fed. Cir. 1994). In order to establish service connection on a direct basis, the record must contain competent evidence of: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) 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. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Specific to PTSD, the diagnosis must be made in accordance with the DSM-5, a stressor event must be supported by credible evidence, and there must be medical evidence of a nexus between the two. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f). VA treatment records and an October 2015 VA examination report document current a current disability. The Veteran has been diagnosed with PTSD, depression, an anxiety disorder, and alcohol abuse; there is not agreement among treating professionals as to which is the most appropriate label, though substance abuse is indicated to be secondary to another, primary condition as a result of self-medication. In several statements and at the 2021 hearing, the Veteran has described events which are highly consistent with the facts and circumstances of his service, and in large measure are verified in military records. Aside from the normal stresses of serving in security forces, the Veteran reports that he was sent to secure the flight line in Thailand when there was unrest in neighboring Burma in 1989; this is verified in personnel records. He reported fear of terrorist activity following a series of assassinations; his duties changed as a result of the threat, verified in personnel records. At the hearing he described an incident in which locals were trying to steal a bike, and he and his partner were almost pulled off the base fighting to keep the thieves from leaving. As there is a current diagnosis and repeated instances of credibly supported in-service stressors, the remaining question involves a nexus between the two. An October 2015 VA examination diagnosed unspecified anxiety disorder and mild alcohol use disorder but determined that these disorders were less likely than not related to service. The examiner gave no rationale for this finding, however; he stated the reported stressors would not result in PTSD, but did not discuss why they could not support the diagnosed conditions. The opinion is not entitled to any probative value. Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295 (2008). In contrast, VA treatment records include assessments by social workers and psychologists diagnosing PTSD and/or anxiety disorders related at least in part to events in service. An October 2105 note indicated the diagnoses were made under the DSM-5. The ongoing treatment notes include discussion of in-service and post-service stressors, and while it is acknowledged that post-service events could and did trigger mental health episodes, it was consistently concluded that in-service events had contributed to his situation. Given the consistency of findings, and the rationales attached to the conclusions, the treatment records are given great probative weight. Accordingly, the probative evidence of record favors the claim, and service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is warranted. The Board notes that there is an outstanding request related to obtaining the curriculum vitae and qualifications of the VA examiner. Providing such would require remand for RO action; in light of the favorable finding above, there is not prejudice to the Veteran in adjudicating the claim without provision of such. WILLIAM H. DONNELLY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board W. Ripplinger, 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.