Citation Nr: 22044532 Decision Date: 08/04/22 Archive Date: 08/04/22 DOCKET NO. 20-05 707 DATE: August 4, 2022 ORDER Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. VA has not shown by clear and unmistakable evidence that a preexisting psychiatric disorder was not aggravated by service. 2. The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder is related to service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from November 1988 to October 1996. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2018 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder. The Veteran asserts that service worsened his psychiatric disorders related to childhood trauma. The Board concludes that the Veteran has a current disability that began during active service or is related to the stress of service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Initially the Veteran acknowledges that he sustained childhood physical and mental trauma. This raises the question of whether the "presumption of soundness" applies and has been rebutted. The presumption of soundness holds that every Veteran shall be taken to have been in sound condition when examined, accepted and enrolled for service, except as to defects, infirmities, or disorders noted at the time of the examination, acceptance, and enrollment, or where clear and unmistakable evidence demonstrates that the injury or disease existed before acceptance and enrollment and was not aggravated by such service. 38 U.S.C. § 1111. To be "noted" within the meaning of the presumption of soundness statute, the condition must be recorded in the entrance examination report. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304 (b); see also 38 U.S.C. § 1111; Crowe v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 238, 245 (1994). Where there is no preexisting condition noted upon entry into service, the Veteran is presumed to have entered service in sound condition, and the burden falls to the government to demonstrate the presumption has been rebutted. Wagner v. Principi, 370 F.3d 1089, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2004); 38 U.S.C. § 1111. In this case, the Board finds that the government would not be able to meet its burden of showing that the preexisting psychiatric disorder was not aggravated by service. A January 2020 letter from the Veteran's VA primary care provider stated that the Veteran has a history of depression that started prior to his service. The provider opined that service likely exacerbated the Veteran's depression. The provider did not provide a rationale for the opinion. A private mental health counselor who treated the Veteran and his wife provided an October 2021 statement. The therapist explained that the Veteran presents with a complicated, treatment resistant trauma, depression and anxiety combination. She noted diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. She indicated that the Veteran experienced childhood trauma suggestive of child abuse or neglect. She stated that without treatment, the Veteran entered the military, where his experienced reinforced fear and danger. Thus, according to the therapist, the Veteran had one trauma stacked on another trauma. The therapist opined that he developed complex posttraumatic stress disorder in service. These opinions weigh against a finding that the Veteran's preexisting psychiatric disorder was not aggravated by service. Therefore, there can be no clear and unmistakable evidence to that effect. Accordingly, the presumption of soundness is not rebutted. (Continued on the next page) Next, the Board must determine whether the in-service psychiatric disorder is related to the current psychiatric disorder. In that regard, the October 2021 therapist's opinion that the Veteran presented with the three diagnosed disorders and that the Veteran developed complex posttraumatic stress disorder in service provides such a link. The Board finds that this opinion is probative and well enough reasoned to establish a nexus between service and the Veteran's current disabilities. There is no evidence against the claim. The Board finds the evidence in favor of the claim to be persuasive. Service connection for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder is granted. D. Martz Ames Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Rocktashel, 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.