Citation Nr: 21029610 Decision Date: 05/14/21 Archive Date: 05/14/21 DOCKET NO. 15-20 244 DATE: May 14, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for unspecified depressive disorder is granted. FINDING OF FACT After resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, his unspecified depressive disorder is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity during service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for unspecified depressive disorder have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107(b) (2018); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304 (2020). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from December 1963 to November 1965, with service in Vietnam. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2014 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This case was remanded in May 2018, August 2019, May 2020, and December 2020 for further development. In March 2018, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge; a transcript of that hearing is of record. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychological disorder. Service connection may be established for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection requires evidence showing: (1) a current disability; (2) incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury in service; and (3) a nexus between the current disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated in service. See Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disability was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). The Veteran has been consistently diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. See, e.g., May 2014 VA examination. However, a May 2019 VA examiner and March 2021 VA examiner also diagnosed unspecified depressive disorder. VA treatment records also reflect a diagnosis of depression. See, e.g., November 2019 VA treatment records. Thus, although there is some evidence that suggests the Veteran only has a personality disorder, see, e.g., March 2020 VA examination, the evidence is at least in equipoise that the Veteran has unspecified depressive disorder. The Veteran's military occupational specialty was as a rifleman, see DD 214, and he reported that he primarily served on guard duty during service. See, e.g., May 2014 VA examination. He was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder during service. See September 1965 service treatment records (STRs). His medical record reflects that he has memory problems, including difficulty remembering the events that happened to him in Vietnam, see, e.g., February 2019 VA treatment records, but he testified during his March 2018 Board hearing that he feared for his life while serving in Vietnam. During a March 2021 VA examination, the examiner noted that the Veteran's only stressor was guard duty and shooting at the enemy in the distance while in Vietnam and opined that the stressor was related to the Veteran's fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. The examiner also opined it was less likely than not that the Veteran's unspecified depressive disorder was related to service but relied on the absence of a diagnosis in service. The law is clear that a disability diagnosed after service can be service-connected. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). As a result, the opinion is inadequate and given no probative weight. After considering the Veteran's service in Vietnam, his testimony in March 2018, and that the March 2021 VA examiner noted only a stressor related to the Veteran's military service, the Board resolves reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor and finds that his unspecified depressive disorder is related to his fear of hostile military or terrorist activity during service. Thus, service connection for unspecified depressive disorder is warranted and the claim is granted. E. I. VELEZ Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Sandler, 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.