Citation Nr: A26037726 Decision Date: 04/22/26 Archive Date: 04/22/26 DOCKET NO. 250409-534264 DATE: April 22, 2026 ORDER Entitlement to an initial rating of 70 percent, but no higher, for other specified depressive disorder (claimed as post-traumatic stress disorder) is granted. FINDING OF FACT For the entire period on appeal, the Veteran's other specified depressive disorder has been manifested by occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for the Veteran's service-connected other specified depressive disorder have been met. 38 U.S.C. §1155; 38 C.F.R. §§3.321, 4.1, 4.3, 4.7, 4.10, 4.130, Diagnostic Code 9435. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from March 1997 to February 2001. This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2025 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The AMA creates a new framework for Veterans dissatisfied with VA's decision on their claim to seek review. The AMA became effective on February 19, 2019. 38 C.F.R. § 3.2400 (a)(1). The rating decision in this case was issued after February 19, 2019; thus, the AMA framework applies. In the April 2025 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), the Veteran elected the Direct Review docket. Therefore, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the March 2025 Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) decision on appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.301. If evidence was submitted during the period after the AOJ issued the decision, the Board did not consider it in its decision. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.300, 20.301, 20.801. If the Veteran would like VA to consider any evidence that was submitted that the Board could not consider, the Veteran may file a Supplemental Claim (VA Form 20-0995) and submit or identify this evidence. 38 C.F.R. § 3.2501. If the evidence is new and relevant, VA will issue another decision on the claim, considering the new evidence in addition to the evidence previously considered. Id. Specific instructions for filing a Supplemental Claim are included with this decision. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for other specified depressive disorder The Veteran has been assigned a 30 percent rating for his other specified depressive disorder under the criteria contained in the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, Diagnostic Criteria (DC) 9435. 38 C.F.R. § 4.130. See March 2025 Rating Decision. Disability ratings are determined by applying the criteria set forth in the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, found in 38 C.F.R., Part 4. The rating schedule is primarily a guide in the evaluation of disability resulting from all types of diseases and injuries encountered as a result of or incident to military service. The ratings are intended to compensate, as far as can practicably be determined, the average impairment of earning capacity resulting from such diseases and injuries and their residual conditions in civilian occupations. 38 U.S.C. § 1155; 38 C.F.R. § 4.1. Where there is a question as to which of two evaluations shall be applied, the higher evaluation will be assigned if the disability picture more nearly approximates the criteria for that rating. 38 C.F.R. § 4.7. In considering the severity of a disability, it is essential to trace the medical history of the Veteran. 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.1, 4.2, 4.41. Consideration of the whole recorded history is necessary so that a rating may accurately reflect the elements of disability present. 38 C.F.R. § 4.2; Peyton v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 282 (1991). While the regulations require review of the recorded history of a disability by the adjudicator to ensure a more accurate evaluation, the regulations do not give past medical reports precedence over the current medical findings. Where entitlement to compensation has already been established and an increase in the disability rating is at issue, it is the present level of disability that is of primary concern. See Francisco v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 55, 58 (1994). However, where the question for consideration is the propriety of the initial ratings assigned, evaluation of the evidence since the effective date of the grant of service connection is required. Fenderson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 119, 125-26 (1999). Where VA's adjudication of the claim for increase is lengthy and factual findings show distinct time periods where the service-connected disability exhibits symptoms which would warrant different ratings, different or "staged" ratings may be assigned for such different periods of time. Hart v. Mansfield, 21 Vet. App. 505, 509-10 (2007); Fenderson, 12 Vet. App. at 126-27. Except as otherwise provided by law, a claimant has the responsibility to present and support a claim for benefits. VA shall consider all information and lay and medical evidence of record in a case, and when there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, VA shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; Lynch v. McDonough, 21 F. 4th 776 (Fed. Cir. 2021) (benefit-of-the-doubt rule not for application when evidence persuasively favors one side or the other). Under DC 9435, a 30 percent rating is assigned when symptoms such as depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, or mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, or recent events), cause occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and normal conversation). A 50 percent rating is assigned when symptoms such as flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; or difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships cause occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity. A 70 percent rating is assigned when symptoms such as suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant speech; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); or inability to establish and maintain effective relationships cause occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood. A 100 percent rating is assigned for total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought processes or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; or memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation or own name. VA and private treatment records, the March 2019, April 2023, and December 2023 VA examinations, and the Veteran's lay statements show that the Veteran's other specified depressive disorder was manifested by symptoms associated with a 30 percent rating of depressed mood and chronic sleep impairment, symptoms associated with a 50 percent rating of flattened affect, disturbances of mood and motivation, and difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships, and symptoms associated with a 70 percent rating of difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances, inability to establish and maintain effective relationships, and suicidal ideation reported on one occasion. The Veteran also had symptoms that are not listed with a specific rating, such as addictive personality, inability to express himself to others, poor insight, and struggling to connect to others. The Board finds the severity, frequency, and duration of the Veteran's unlisted symptoms more closely approximate the symptoms contemplated by a 70 percent rating, which are less severe, less frequent, and shorter in duration than those contemplated by a 100 percent rating. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.126. The Board notes that the Veteran expressed suicidal ideation, which is similar to persistent danger of self-harm, which is contemplated by the 100 percent criteria. Bankhead v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 10, 19 (2017). However, the severity, frequency, and duration of the Veteran's suicidal ideation have not risen to the level contemplated by the 100 percent disability rating. The Veteran regularly denied thoughts, intent, or a plan involving self-harm in existing treatment records as well as the March 2019 and April 2023 VA examinations, and during the December 2023 VA examination, he mentioned a prior suicide attempt in 2002 after discharge for which he sought help. The Board also finds the level of impairment caused by the Veteran's symptoms more closely approximates the level associated with a 70 percent rating. The Veteran experienced occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, with deficiencies in most areas. The Board observes that the Veteran reported frequent job changes, including having jobs between 3 months and 1 year, and being fired for yelling at leaders or colleagues. After considering the evidence of record, the Board finds that the Veteran's service-connected other specific depressive disorder more closely approximates the criteria for the 70 percent disability rating for the entire appeal period. Overall, the Veteran has not demonstrated a level of impairment consistent with the criteria for a 100 percent evaluation. Mauerhan, supra, Vazquez-Claudio, supra. The criteria for an evaluation higher than 30 percent have been met or approximated during the appeal period. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.130, Diagnostic Code 9435. Thus, the Board concludes that the weight of the evidence is in favor of a rating of 70 percent, but no higher, for the Veteran's other specified depressive disorder for the entire appeal period. Ardie A. Bland Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Huber, C. 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.