Citation Nr: 21040769 Decision Date: 07/06/21 Archive Date: 07/06/21 DOCKET NO. 17-47 834 DATE: July 6, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder, claimed as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is granted. FINDING OF FACT The most probative evidence indicates the Veteran's suffers from unspecified anxiety disorder as a result of military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from June 1997 to March 2003. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2016 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In April 2021, the Veteran testified at a Board video conference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of this hearing is of record. 1. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition to include PTSD The Veteran seeks service connection for a mental disorder to include PTSD, which she asserts was caused by traumas she suffered during service. Service connection may be established for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Generally, to prove service connection there must be: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection for PTSD requires a medical diagnosis of PTSD in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 4.125(a); a link, established by medical evidence, between current symptoms and an in-service stressor; and credible supporting evidence that the claimed in-service stressor occurred. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f). As an initial matter, the Board notes that the January 2016 rating decision conceded that the Veteran experienced a stressful event in service or fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. The Veteran underwent a VA examination in December 2015, at which time the examiner noted that the Veteran had stressors related to the Veteran's fear of hostile military or terrorist activity but did not have a full spectrum of PTSD symptoms. The examiner rendered a diagnosis of anxiety and chronic sleep impairment and opined that the Veteran's condition claimed is at least as likely as not incurred in or caused by the claimed in-service injury, event or illness. The examiner provided the rationale that the Veteran had no history of mental illness entering into the military. At the time of entry into the military service, evidence indicates that the Veteran was psychologically and psychiatrically fit for unrestricted duty. The examiner explained that the Veteran began experiencing her symptoms during her deployment to Afghanistan and they subsequently increased following her return. The examiner noted that although the Veteran's symptoms do not meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, they do meet criteria for unspecified anxiety disorder which is as likely as not caused from her military experience. The Veteran submitted a letter in 2015 from a nurse practitioner suggesting her symptoms are diagnosable as PTSD and an examination report dated in 2017 from a licensed mental health counselor diagnosing PTSD. However, as neither examiner is a psychologist or psychiatrist, they are afforded limited probative weight. The Board finds the opinion of the VA examiner to be most probative as to the current diagnosis. Based on a review of the evidence, and after resolving all doubt in the Veteran's favor, the Board finds that the Veteran's unspecified anxiety is related to service, and service connection is warranted. K. A. BANFIELD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Asare, 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.