Citation Nr: 21025541 Decision Date: 04/28/21 Archive Date: 04/28/21 DOCKET NO. 18-11 225 DATE: April 28, 2021 ORDER Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include anxiety with major depressive disorder due to personal trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, her acquired psychiatric disorder is etiologically due to her active military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1131, 5103, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102, 3.159, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from September 1979 to November 1980. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2019 Board decision. The Veteran appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). In December 2020, CAVC granted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) vacating the Board’s decision and remanded the claim for further development on the basis that the Board erroneously discussed a November 2016 private physician report, thus rendering its statement of reasons and bases inadequate. The Veteran contends that her current psychiatric disorders are directly related to military sexual trauma that occurred during active duty service. A veteran is entitled to VA disability compensation if there is a disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131. Generally, to establish a right to compensation for a present disability, a veteran 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. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection means the facts, shown by evidence, establish that a particular injury or disease resulting in disability was incurred coincident with service, or if preexisting such service, was aggravated by service. This may be accomplished by affirmatively showing inception or aggravation during service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may be granted for disability shown after service, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, shows that it was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). The Board notes that while entitlement to service connection for PTSD requires verification of a claimed stressor, entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder other than PTSD does not require verification of a claimed stressor. However, service connection for a psychiatric disorder does still require a nexus between a diagnosed psychiatric disorder and service. Regarding a current diagnosis, treatment records indicate that the Veteran is diagnosed with major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder not otherwise specified and PTSD. Therefore, the first element of service connection has been met. Regarding an in-service occurrence, the Veteran reports that she was sexually assaulted in service. There is no contemporaneous documentation in the Veteran’s service treatment records or military personnel records that note that the incident occurred. However, the Board acknowledges that given the nature of the claimed in-service occurrence, it would be highly unlikely a sexual assault would have been documented in records. Treatment records note that during a September 2007 PTSD screen, the Veteran reported sexual trauma in service. An April 2008 treatment record indicated that the Veteran reported a traumatic sexual altercation in service. The record contains positive and negative nexus evidence regarding the etiology of the Veteran’s psychiatric disability. A March 2016 VA examination report shows that the Veteran was diagnosed with major depression and unspecified anxiety, with PTSD ruled out. The examiner opined that any psychiatric disability was less likely due to military service; rather, the Veteran’s past history of physical and emotional abuse was the primary factor to account for her anxiety, not the in-service incident. In an October 2016 private physician’s report, the Veteran was diagnosed with PTSD which was determined to be due to her military service. In a November 2016 private examination report, the examiner evaluated the Veteran and diagnosed her with PTSD. The Veteran recalled that while she was in service, she was awakened with molestation from another female soldier. She reported that she was paralyzed with fear and that at seventeen years of age, she was too overwhelmed and embarrassed to report it. The Veteran acknowledged that after the in-service traumatic sexual incident, she began to abuse alcohol which resulted in promiscuous behavior. She reported that she had intrusive thought patterns and repeatedly questioned her sexual orientation. She further reported that she was unable to openly talk about the incident and continued to anguish with confusion and guilt. Shortly after, the Veteran became pregnant at eighteen and requested discharge from service. The examiner completed a disability benefits questionnaire and explained that the in-service sexual assault resulted in an acute escalation of anxiety and depressive symptomatology. Following a review of the evidence, the Board finds that the second element of service connection, an in-service occurrence, has been satisfied. In reaching this conclusion, the Board has considered that the Veteran displayed common markers of sexual assault. Affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, the Board concludes that she was sexually assaulted during service. Further, as to a link between the Veteran’s diagnosed acquired psychiatric disorder and the in-service occurrence, the November 2016 VA examiner indicated that the in-service sexual assault resulted in an acute escalation of anxiety and depressive symptomatology. As the Board has determined that the Veteran was sexually assaulted in service, the third element of service connection has been met. Given the foregoing, reasonable doubt has been resolved in favor of the Veteran and entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is granted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 55 (1990). JOHN Z. JONES Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Hemphill 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.