VA Ratings for a Service-Connected Mental Health Disability

Many veterans struggle with mental health disorders as a result of their time on duty. For example, recent data from the National Institutes of Health indicates that approximately 15% of servicemembers who were deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq have been affected by PTSD or depression. If you've been diagnosed with a mental health condition that's tied to your military service, you may qualify for disability compensation benefits from the VA.

Provided that you can establish service-connection for your mental impairment, you may be assigned a disability percentage rating between 0% and 100%, depending on how severe your symptoms are. Because your disability rating plays a significant role in determining the amount of your monthly VA benefits, it's important to know how the agency evaluates mental health disabilities and what medical evidence should be in your record in order to maximize your rating.

Establishing Mental Health Service Connection for the VA

In order to qualify for VA disability compensation, you'll first need to establish that your mental illness is service-connected, meaning that it was caused or exacerbated by your time in the service. Service connection can be direct, aggravated, presumptive, or secondary. Each type of service connection requires a different set of evidence.

Direct Service Connection

You can get VA disability compensation based on a direct service connection if you have a current diagnosis of a mental health disorder, proof of an event on active duty that caused the disorder, and medical records connecting your diagnosis with the incident in service. For example, if you developed depression following the death of a close friend while on duty, you can establish direct service connection by providing a Presidential Memorial Certificate for the deceased veteran as well as clinical notes from your psychologist or counselor.

Aggravated Service Connection

Some veterans have mental health disorders before going into the service and their experiences on active duty make the condition worse ("aggravated"). You can establish aggravated service connection if you have a current diagnosis from a VA doctor, psychiatrist, or psychologist, evidence of an occurrence in service that made your disorder worse, and medical records showing a connection between your worsening mental health and the in-service event.

You'll also need to prove that you had your mental health disorder before going into the military, such as having your symptoms noted during your enlistment exam. If it wasn't, you must provide medical records showing a pre-service diagnosis of your condition. Furthermore, you must have a VA doctor, psychologist, or psychiatrist state in writing that your condition got worse specifically as a result of your military service.

Presumptive Service Connection

You can sometimes establish service connection for a mental illness without having to prove that it was caused by your military service. For example, veterans who sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during their time on active duty and receive a diagnosis of depression within three years of the TBI will have the VA "presume" that the depression is linked to their military service. Prisoners of war with a diagnosis of an anxiety or dysthymic (persistent depressive) disorder are also presumed to have a service-connected mental disability.

Secondary Service Connection

Veterans often develop mental impairments stemming from a physical disability that occurred during active duty. For example, amputees may develop major depressive disorder as a result of their loss of limb and resulting functional limitations. If you have a service-connected physical condition that causes a mental health disorder, you're entitled to an additional disability rating ("secondary service connection") for your mental illness.

To establish secondary service connection, you must have a current mental illness diagnosis, a physical disability that has been service-connected, and medical evidence of a connection between the service-connected physical condition and your mental illness. In addition to your medical treatment notes, you'll typically need a written opinion from a doctor to prove that your mental health condition was caused by your physical impairment.

VA Mental Health Ratings

The VA evaluates all mental health disorders using the Schedule for Rating Disabilities (38 CFR 4), which follows the criteria set out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), published by the American Psychiatric Association. Examples of mental health disorders that the VA will assign a disability rating for include:

• major depression
• bipolar disorder
• anxiety
• schizophrenia
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• agoraphobia
• neurocognitive impairment, and
• eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia.

Compensable mental health illnesses are rated at 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, or 100%. (Eating disorders have their own rating formula, at 10%, 30%, 60%, and 100%.) The more severe your impairment, the higher your percentage rating will be. For example, you can only receive a 100% rating if you cannot function at work or socially in any way at all.

VA Mental Health Rating Chart

Mental health illnesses are evaluated according to the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. The chart below shows the percentage ratings allowed by the VA and their corresponding set of symptoms, along with the base benefit amount (in 2025) that an individual veteran may receive in disability compensation as a result.

Veterans with a 0% rating have received a diagnosis of a mental illness, but have symptoms mild enough that they don't require continuous medication or don't interfere with social and work functioning. While a 0% rating doesn't qualify you for disability payments, it does allow you to be eligible for VA health care and other benefits.

Many veterans are diagnosed with more than one mental health disorder, such as anxiety and depression or bipolar and PTSD. But even if you have multiple diagnoses, the VA can only rate you for one (combined) mental health rating. Your benefit amount will be determined by the total percentage rating of your combined mental conditions.

Eating Disorders Rating Chart

Anorexia and bulimia are two disorders that are diagnosed as mental health impairments but have their own rating formula, depicted in the following chart.

Keep in mind that the above base benefit rates apply to individual veterans only. You'll receive additional amounts if you have dependents (such as a spouse, children, or parents). You can check out the VA's website with disability compensation tables that reflect your living situation for a better estimate of your monthly benefit amount.

Criteria the VA Uses for Rating Mental Health

The VA will review your medical record for evidence of mental health symptoms, such as changes in mood and difficulty concentrating, when determining your disability rating. Doctors' notes containing observations of your behavior, diagnostic mental health tests, and medication lists contain important information on how severe your symptoms are.

One important diagnostic tool that the VA uses is called the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale. GAF scores range from 0-100 and are designed to measure your ability to function at work, socially and emotionally. A high GAF score means you're functioning pretty well, while a lower GAF score means you're having significant difficulties with mental tasks. Veterans with lower GAF scores are more likely to have a higher disability rating from the VA. As part of your Compensation and Pension exam, the VA will assign you a GAF score.

How to Maximize Your VA Mental Health Disability Rating

The VA doesn't have any set guidelines for mental health ratings based on specific diagnoses. Rather, the agency uses its discretion and examines all medical evidence about your symptoms and functional limitations before deciding on a rating. This makes it very difficult to predict what rating you'll get, but general trends show that the VA usually assigns low ratings for mental health conditions. Below are some ways to help increase your chances of getting a higher mental health disability rating from the VA.

Be Honest During Your Compensation and Pension (C&P) Exam

When you go for your C&P exam with the VA psychiatrist, avoid exaggerating or trivializing your symptoms. Just be factual and tell the truth. Try not to give simple yes or no answers without elaborating further. Instead, explain your yes or no responses and describe your symptoms. You know more about your social and work impairments than anyone else. Your medical records will contain some details, but you're the expert on what your daily life is like with your mental illness.

Provide Details in Your Personal Statement

Give the VA as many details as you can about your day-to-day functioning with family, friends, social activities, and work. Write a statement about how your illness affects your daily life. In the statement, describe what a typical day is like for you, from start to finish. Make sure to be very specific—phrases such as "Most days I don't get out of bed at all" or "I have groceries delivered because I'm afraid to leave the house" can add welcome context to the VA doctor's observations in your C&P exam report.

Discuss how frequently you experience your most severe mental health symptoms, as this can help contextualize your disorder. For example, if you received a high GAF on your C&P report because you were having a "good day" on the date of the exam, discussing how poorly you function on a "bad day" can put that score in a different light (and lead to an improved rating).

Submit Supporting Statements

Sometimes people close to you can provide very helpful information about how your illness affects you and the ways in which it decreases your functioning. Statements from your family and friends can help the VA understand how your mental health has an impact on your ability to perform activities of daily living like getting dressed, making meals, and doing household chores.

When deciding who to ask for a statement, consider people who've known you for a long time, see you on a regular basis, and can provide the VA with additional insight into how your life has changed as a result of your mental health disorder. Statements should always be signed and dated, and include this sentence at the end: "This statement is true and correct to the best of the writer's knowledge and belief."

Track Your Mental or Emotional Symptoms

If you're planning to apply for disability benefits, start keeping a record of your symptoms in your calendar. This can help you remember how frequently you have panic attacks, take medication, and visit the doctor. You can submit your calendar, diary, or journal to the VA in order to support your claim.

Address Any Criminal Records With Care

Sometimes criminal records can be submitted to prove issues with anger or violence, but you should approach this with caution. For instance, DUIs might show that a veteran self-medicates with alcohol, and arrests for domestic violence might support a veteran's statements about experiencing aggressive and violent outbursts, but these can be tricky to use correctly. If you're not sure how to handle such records, you should ask a veterans' disability lawyer for advice.

Gather Performance Evaluations From Past Jobs

If you've left jobs in the past due to performance issues, try to obtain a performance evaluation from your past employer. Having a written evaluation from your old boss documenting your struggles with full-time employment can show the VA any issues you have with decreased efficiency, insubordination, trouble following directions, or other work-related difficulties.

VA Mental and Behavioral Health Services

Many veterans are unsure of where to start getting mental health treatment. One good place to start is by looking through the variety of programs offered by the VA for veterans with mental illnesses such as PTSD, major depressive disorder, and military sexual trauma. You don't even need to be enrolled in VA health care in order to access many of these resources.

If you'd like to schedule your first appointment for mental health treatment, you can call or walk into any VA medical center at any time and any Vet Center during clinic hours. Or, you can call the VA at 877-222-8327 (if you're hard of hearing, you can use the TTY number at 800-877-8339) Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time.

If you find it hard to get to a VA center in person, you can access some mental health services online. The Veteran Training portal offers anger management techniques, and the VA's app store offers many therapeutic tools to help you address behavioral and cognitive issues.

You can find more detailed information about programs (both inside and outside of the VA) designed to help veterans with their mental and behavioral well-being on the VA mental health services webpage.

Applying for VA Disability Benefits

To start the process of getting VA disability benefits, you'll need to complete Form 21-526EZ, Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits. You have several methods to choose from when submitting the application.

• Apply online using the electronic version of Form 21-526.
• Fax Form 21-526EZ to 844-531-7818 (from inside the United States) or 248-524-4260 (from outside the U.S.).
• Bring your application to your local VA office.
• Mail the form to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.

To learn more about the filing process, including what additional information you need to submit and how long it will take to get a decision, see our article on applying for VA disability benefits.

Legal Help Can Increase Your Chances at a Higher Rating

You aren't required to hire a lawyer to apply for VA disability benefits, but it's often a smart move. An experienced attorney can help you gather the medical records you need to establish service connection for your mental health impairment and submit supportive evidence that can increase your VA disability rating. Your lawyer can also help you appeal an initial denial or reopen a prior claim.