VA rates PTSD under diagnostic code 9411 using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders in 38 CFR 4.130. The same formula applies to every service-connected mental-health condition (diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440), so the level (0, 10, 30, 50, 70, or 100 percent) is set by how much the condition impairs your work and social functioning, illustrated by example symptoms, rather than by the diagnosis label itself.
0%A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication.
10%Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.
30%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 conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events).
50%Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms 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; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.
70%Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; 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); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.
100%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; memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name.
If you are in crisis
If you are a veteran having thoughts of suicide or in emotional crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line is free, confidential, and available 24/7. Dial 988 then press 1, text 838255, or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net.
The listed symptoms are examples, not a checklist
Each level describes a degree of occupational and social impairment, followed by symptoms introduced with the words "such as". Those symptoms are examples of the kind and severity of impairment at that level, not a required checklist; the evaluation is set by the overall level of impairment (38 CFR 4.130).
One formula for every mental-health condition
Ratings under diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440 are all evaluated using this same General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders (38 CFR 4.130, Note 2), so PTSD, depression, and anxiety share the same rating levels.
This explains what the rating schedule says. It is educational, not claims assistance: only a VA-accredited representative may help with the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a claim (38 CFR 14.629). We do not advise how to obtain or increase a rating, and we determine nothing about any specific claim.