How is PTSD rated by the VA?
PTSD is rated using a scale from 0 to 100 percent based on how much the condition impairs your ability to work and function socially. The VA uses the same rating formula for all mental disorders, including PTSD, which is listed under diagnostic code 9411 in the rating schedule.
The Rating Scale
The VA assigns PTSD one of six rating levels based on your symptoms and how they affect your daily life and work 1:
- 100 percent: Total occupational and social impairment — you have severe symptoms like gross impairment in thinking or communication, persistent delusions or hallucinations, grossly inappropriate behavior, persistent danger of hurting yourself or others, inability to perform basic daily activities, or disorientation to time or place 1
- 70 percent: Occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas (work, school, family, judgment, thinking, mood) — you have symptoms such as suicidal thoughts, obsessional rituals that interfere with routine activities, illogical or irrelevant speech, near-continuous panic or depression affecting independent functioning, impaired impulse control with periods of violence, spatial disorientation, neglect of personal hygiene, or difficulty adapting to stress 1
- 50 percent: Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity — you have symptoms such as flattened affect, circumstantial or stereotyped speech, panic attacks more than once a week, difficulty understanding complex commands, impaired short- and long-term memory, impaired judgment, impaired abstract thinking, disturbances of motivation and mood, or difficulty establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships 1
- 30 percent: Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks — you have 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) 1
- 10 percent: Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms that decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication 1
- 0 percent: A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication 1
Special Rule for Service-Connected PTSD
If your PTSD developed in service as a result of a highly stressful event and was severe enough to cause your discharge from active military service, the VA must assign you at least a 50 percent rating and schedule an examination within six months of your discharge to determine if a higher rating is warranted 2.
How the Rating Decision Is Made
The VA rater (called a Rating Veterans Service Representative or RVSR) compares your symptoms and functional impairment to the descriptions in the rating scale and assigns the level that best matches your condition 1. The rater uses medical evidence, including VA examination reports, to determine which rating level applies to you 34.