Sleep apnea secondary to depression or anxiety

In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, sleep apnea appeared as secondary to depression or anxiety in 1,404 issues. The Board granted 280, denied 211, and sent 878 back for more work. Of the ones it decided, it granted 57 percent.

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

14 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 18 were dismissed or withdrawn. 3 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.

Across every year we have indexed, that is 2,001 issues, 53 percent granted of the ones decided, and 63 percent sent back for more work.

What a secondary claim needs

In a secondary claim, the Board reads for three things. A diagnosis of the second condition. A first condition that is already service connected. And a medical opinion that says the first condition led to the second, or made it worse, and explains why. The rule itself is shorter than that. Here is the part that matters.

… disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury shall be service connected.

38 CFR 3.310(a), from the middle of its first sentence

Proximately due to means the first condition led to the second. The other route is aggravation, where the first condition made the second worse. The rule for that route is in the next paragraph of the same section, and it says increase in severity.

Any increase in severity of a nonservice-connected disease or injury that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury, and not due to the natural progress of the nonservice-connected disease, will be service connected.

38 CFR 3.310(b), first sentence

That paragraph goes on to say the VA will not concede aggravation without a baseline. A baseline is medical evidence of how bad the second condition was before the first one started making it worse, or the earliest record after that and before the evidence of how bad it is now. If you claim aggravation, find the earliest record you have of the second condition, from either window. Without a baseline from one of them, the VA will not concede aggravation. The other route, that the first condition led to the second, does not need a baseline.

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.

Recent decisions on these claims

• June 1, 2026Denied

  Service connection for sleep apnea, to include as secondary to a psychiatric disorder

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• March 20, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea secondary to the service-connected anxiety disorder

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• March 17, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea, to include as secondary to service-connected persistent depressive disorder

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• February 25, 2026Granted

  Service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (hereinafter OSA), as secondary to weight gain caused by service-connected PTSD with alcohol use disorder (hereinafter psychiatric disability)

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• January 28, 2026Denied

  Entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea, to include as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected acquired psychiatric disabilities

  Read the decision at VA.gov