Board decisions
What the Board granted and denied for depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions
In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, veterans raised 69,143 issues about depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. Of the ones it decided, the Board granted 50 percent. It sent 48 percent of all these issues back for more work.
Every decision counted here is an appeal. The regional office decided the claim first, the veteran disagreed, and the Board is the next step after that. These are not the odds on a first claim.
Since 2019
3,041 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 3,217 were dismissed or withdrawn. 482 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.
Across every year we have indexed, that is 219,377 issues across 188,805 decisions, 43 percent granted of the ones decided, and 48 percent sent back for more work.
What a remand is
A remand is not a yes or a no. The Board sends the claim back to the regional office for more work, such as a new exam or a record that was not in the file. The claim is decided again later, and that later decision is a separate document.
What showed up in the decisions
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| What the decision mentions | Granted40,618 issues | Denied53,615 issues |
|---|---|---|
| A medical opinion, or the words nexus or at least as likely as not, anywhere in the decision | 72 percent | 71 percent |
| The words lay statement, buddy statement, or lay evidence | 54 percent | 58 percent |
| A hearing was held (the veteran or a witness testified) | 42 percent | 33 percent |
| The decision calls an exam or medical opinion inadequate | 7 percent | 6 percent |
These are mentions in the written decision, not reasons for the outcome. A denied issue can mention a doctor's opinion just as a granted one does. Whether the opinion was for or against the claim, and the reasons it gave, are not something these counts can see. Each item is counted for the whole decision, so it may concern another issue decided in the same document.
Claimed together
A pair gets its own page once it appears at least 100 times and the Board decided at least 20 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page.
Claimed as secondary to depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions
Sleep apnea secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 1,404 issues paired, 57 percent granted of the ones decided
High blood pressure secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 612 issues paired, 46 percent granted of the ones decided
Erectile dysfunction secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 368 issues paired, 55 percent granted of the ones decided
Migraines secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 387 issues paired, 75 percent granted of the ones decided
Heart disease secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 144 issues paired, 53 percent granted of the ones decided
GERD secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 206 issues paired, 37 percent granted of the ones decided
Diabetes secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 146 issues paired, 32 percent granted of the ones decided
Stomach ulcers secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 30 issues paired, 40 percent granted of the ones decided
Irritable bowel syndrome secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 59 issues paired, 53 percent granted of the ones decided
Skin conditions secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 40 issues paired, 60 percent granted of the ones decided
Gulf War illness secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 64 issues paired, 14 percent granted of the ones decided
Liver conditions secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 59 issues paired, 54 percent granted of the ones decided
Fibromyalgia secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 44 issues paired, 20 percent granted of the ones decided
Lower back conditions secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 49 issues paired, 60 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions claimed as secondary to something else
Depression or anxiety secondary to lower back conditions
Since 2019: 483 issues paired, 71 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to knee conditions
Since 2019: 304 issues paired, 56 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to tinnitus
Since 2019: 261 issues paired, 59 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to hearing loss
Since 2019: 178 issues paired, 56 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to migraines
Since 2019: 112 issues paired, 64 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to PTSD
Since 2019: 104 issues paired, 64 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 150 issues paired, 62 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to foot conditions
Since 2019: 107 issues paired, 48 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to diabetes
Since 2019: 71 issues paired, 65 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to cancer
Since 2019: 140 issues paired, 45 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to arthritis
Since 2019: 102 issues paired, 78 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to skin conditions
Since 2019: 65 issues paired, 47 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to liver conditions
Since 2019: 53 issues paired, 56 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to shoulder conditions
Since 2019: 67 issues paired, 70 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to neck conditions
Since 2019: 51 issues paired, 76 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to ankle conditions
Since 2019: 74 issues paired, 59 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to prostate conditions
Since 2019: 56 issues paired, 43 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to wrist and hand conditions
Since 2019: 56 issues paired, 57 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to stomach ulcers
Since 2019: 27 issues paired, 42 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to heart disease
Since 2019: 49 issues paired, 64 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to radiculopathy or neuropathy
Since 2019: 44 issues paired, 87 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to high blood pressure
Since 2019: 21 issues paired, 71 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to scars
Since 2019: 40 issues paired, 38 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to asthma
Since 2019: 27 issues paired, 67 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to erectile dysfunction
Since 2019: 31 issues paired, 38 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to eye conditions
Since 2019: 17 issues paired, 50 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to hip conditions
Since 2019: 35 issues paired, 50 percent granted of the ones decided
Five recent decisions about depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions
- June 30, 2026Denied
Entitlement to a rating greater than 70 percent for major depressive disorder (MDD)
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 30, 2026Denied
Entitlement to a rating in excess of 70 percent for major depressive disorder
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 24, 2026Granted
Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include adjustment disorder with anxiety and depression
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 24, 2026Granted
Entitlement to a 100 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder with major depressive disorder and secondary alcohol use disorder (hereinafter PTSD)
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 24, 2026Denied
For the period from May 30, 2012 to March 26, 2014, entitlement to an increased rating greater than 30 percent for service-connected dysthymia and neurocognitive disorder
Read the decision at VA.gov
What this means for you
Three things carry a mental health claim. A current diagnosis from a qualified provider. Something in service that the diagnosis is tied to, whether a stressor, an injury, or another service-connected condition. And symptoms described in the words the rating schedule uses.
For PTSD, the stressor is the hinge. A stressor is the event in service that the PTSD is tied to. If you engaged in combat, the event was part of that combat, and it fits the circumstances of your service, your own statement can establish it. If the event was fear of hostile military or terrorist activity, your statement needs one more thing: a VA psychiatrist or psychologist, or one under contract to the VA, who confirms that the event is enough to support the diagnosis and that your symptoms are tied to it. For other stressors the rule asks for credible supporting evidence that the event happened.
The rule has three more routes, and one of them matters to anyone whose stressor was a personal assault, which includes military sexual trauma. For a personal assault the rule accepts evidence from sources other than your service records to back up your account. It names records from law enforcement, rape crisis centers, mental health counseling centers, hospitals or physicians, pregnancy tests or tests for sexually transmitted diseases, and statements from family members, roommates, fellow service members, or clergy. Evidence of behavior changes after the assault counts as well, and the rule gives its own examples: a request to transfer to another duty assignment, work performance falling off, substance abuse, episodes of depression, panic attacks, or anxiety with no identifiable reason, and unexplained changes in money or social behavior. The rule also says the VA has to tell you about all of that, and give you the chance to gather it, before it denies a claim like this. Nothing has to have been written down at the time.
Two shorter routes finish the list. If the record shows the diagnosis was made during service and the stressor is related to that service, your own testimony can establish the event. The same holds if you were a prisoner of war and the stressor is tied to that.
For a higher rating, the exam and your treatment notes decide it. The VA looks at how you function at work and at home, not at the label. Panic attacks, trouble keeping up at work, trouble with relationships, and memory problems each show up in the schedule. Say how often and how bad.
Mental health is also claimed as secondary to pain or another condition. The claim needs a doctor to say the first condition led to the second, or made it worse, and to explain the reasoning. A bare sentence with no reasons leaves the claim with little to stand on.
If you are thinking about hurting yourself, help is there right now. Call the Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat at veteranscrisisline.net. It is free and confidential, and you do not have to be enrolled in VA care to use it.
Keep reading
Board decisions by condition
Every condition family and the secondary pairs that appeared most, counted from 1,479,738 Board decisions.
How to Read a Board of Veterans' Appeals Decision
Where VA Board decisions live and how to read one in ten minutes, using a real back case.
Lay Evidence and Buddy Statements That Hold Up at the Board
Who can write a statement for you, what they can say, and how the VA weighs it, with prompts for knee, back, sleep apnea, and PTSD.
Free to use. The written playbook is $49.99 once, when it ships.
An issue is counted in a family by its diagnostic code or by the words in the issue. One issue can be counted in more than one family. Percent granted is of the ones the Board decided, so remands and dismissals are left out. The example decisions are recent ones we could link whose issue names this condition, chosen so that both outcomes are shown when we have them. Reopened claims and effective-date disputes are left out. Past decisions do not predict yours. Each page states the decisions from 2019 on, and says so, unless the Board decided too few of them since 2019 to give a percentage worth reading. Where that happens the page counts every year instead and tells you it has. This page is education, not legal advice. Rules quoted are from 38 CFR Parts 3 and 4, as published on the government's eCFR website. Board decisions are public records, linked at their source.