Military servicemembers can suffer various chronic health conditions due to their service. However, service-connected health conditions do not always affect a veteran physically. Some veterans have developed mental health conditions, such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression, due to their experiences in the military. Understanding how the VA assigns disability ratings for mental health conditions can help you obtain the financial benefits you deserve for a service-connected condition.
Common Mental Health Conditions Recognized by the VA
Mental health conditions that may entitle a veteran to disability benefits from the VA include:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): A mental health condition that develops after exposure to a traumatic event, whose symptoms may include intrusive memories, avoidance behaviors, and negative changes in mood or thinking.
- Major depressive disorder: A condition whose symptoms include persistent sadness, loss of interest in activities, and significant interference with daily living
- Generalized anxiety disorder: A condition characterized by excessive, uncontrollable, and typically irrational worrying about daily activities or events.
VA Disability Rating Criteria for Mental Health Conditions
The VA rates mental health conditions at one of several percentages: zero, ten, 30, 50, 70, and 100. The criteria for each rating include:
- Zero percent: A formally diagnosed mental condition whose symptoms do not interfere with occupational and social functioning or require continuous medication.
- Ten percent: Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms that decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks during significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.
- 30 percent: Occupational and social impairment with occasional decreases in work efficiency and intermittent inability to perform occupational tasks due to symptoms such as depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks, chronic sleep impairment, and mild memory loss.
- 50 percent: Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to symptoms like circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotypes speech, panic attacks occurring more than one per week, difficulty understanding complex commands, impairment of memory, impaired judgment, impaired abstract thinking, disturbances to motivation or mood, and difficulty establishing or maintaining social and work relationships.
- 70 percent: Occupation and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas due to symptoms like suicidal ideation, obsessional rituals that interfere with routine activities, intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant speech, near-continuous panic or depression, impaired impulse control, spatial disorientation, neglect of personal appearance or hygiene, difficulty in adapting to stressful situations, and inability to establish or maintain effective relationships.
- 100 percent: Total occupational and social impairment due to symptoms like gross impairment of thought processes, persistent delusions or hallucinations, grossly inappropriate behavior, persistent danger of hurting self or others, intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living, disorientation to time or place, and memory loss.
Key Evidence for Mental Health Ratings
The VA determines ratings for mental health conditions based on various kinds of evidence, such as:
- Medical records
- Compensation and pension (C&P) exam results
- Treating provider notes
- Lay statements
A veteran usually needs a formal diagnosis of a mental health condition and proof of consistent treatment to ensure approval of their VA disability benefits claim.
Tips for Filing a Claim
Best practices that veterans should follow when filing a VA disability claim for a mental health condition include:
- Obtaining a formal diagnosis and treatment plan
- Giving honest and detailed answers during C&P exams
- Submitting buddy statements from family members, friends, or co-workers to provide evidence of observable symptoms
- Seeking help from a VA-accredited attorney to pursue an appeal if the VA denies your initial claim
Contact a VA Disability Lawyer Today
Contact Veterans Law Attorneys today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a VA disability attorney to discuss how the VA determines disability ratings for service-connected medical health conditions like PTSD, anxiety, or depression, and how you can obtain monthly compensation for a mental health condition caused by your military service.
