VA Rating for PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, and Other Mental Health Conditions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can strike years after exposure to the triggering event. We had a client, for example, who had worked successfully for thirty years and then one day he was walking along a street and a car back-fired. Suddenly, he was having flashbacks and nightmares, which eventually led to a long-term admission to a treatment program and having to go on disability.
Many people work while suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In fact, they often feel better while working, due to the daily framework and socialization that work affords. But, if work ends, the ptsd symptoms are likely to get worse.
Working with PTSD may make usual workplace interactions difficult. Often a veteran is uncomfortable with people walking behind him or her, and has to be situated so that the veteran can see anyone coming into a room. Noise can also be a problem, not to mention getting along with co-workers. Working with PTSD causes significant changes in the worker's needs and abilities. The VA rates PTSD claims based on how significantly the social and occupational impairment affects the veteran's ability to work. The amount of disability compensation awarded monthly is dependent on the VA's rating system.
Veterans PTSD symptoms include:
Nervousness, irritability
Trouble sleeping
Sense of impending doom
Fatigue, frequent tiredness
Trouble concentrating, minor memory loss
Pain or tightness in the back, neck, and shoulders
Rapid heartbeat and breathing
Trembling or shaking
Clamminess and sweating
Chronic sleep impairment
Impaired impulse control
VA PTSD ratings are determined by the degree to which these veteran's ptsd symptoms cause occupational impairment. In other words, how much the veteran's symptoms impair the veteran's ability to work. VA PTSD ratings directly influence the amount of disability benefits awarded for a VA PTSD claim in the form of monthly compensation and financial support.
Establishing a PTSD VA Rating for Your Disability Claim
To establish your claim for VA disability benefits for a psychological disorder such as PTSD, anxiety, or depression, you should have a mental health diagnosis and treatment from a doctor or qualified healthcare provider. You must also establish that the mental disorder is the result of traumatic events in-service. Since conditions, like PTSD, anxiety, and depression can sometimes surface in veterans years after the in-service event, it's especially important to report these symptoms to a medical professional when they start to occur. The medical documentation can further be supported by statements from family and friends as well as any changes in your work performance or employment status. This can be important when applying for disability compensation benefits, demonstrating how your mental health condition affects your ability to work as well as how your condition affects your family relations and social interactions.
The VA disability benefits rating schedules specify functional limitations that must be met to obtain a certain disability rating percentage. The functional limitations considered by the va ptsd rating system are the same as for all psychological diseases. For a mental health condition, it does not matter what the diagnosis is when determining the amount of benefit. All that matters for a disability rating score including, va disability ptsd ratings, is the extent of functional limitation. The extent of your disability compensation is determined by your disability rating score.
Elements of a strong VA PTSD claim include:
Current PTSD Diagnosis by a qualified healthcare professional
Connection to traumatic events which occurred during military service
Severe Symptoms Impacting the veterans ability to perform occupational tasks.
The VA applies its ratings system for psychological conditions as follows:
0%, This disability rating acknowledges the diagnosis for a disorder but doesn’t recognize that there are any significant ptsd symptoms. According to this rating there isn’t any impairment that would be considered to affect a veteran’s employment.
10%, A 10% disability rating indicates a diagnosed condition that may result in a small decrease in work efficiency. Under this rating, psychological disorders are often successfully controlled with medication.
30%, A disability rating for ptsd of 30% includes the diagnosis of a condition and can be associated with temporary memory loss, panic attacks, or trouble sleeping. This is considered to result in occasional difficulties or an inability to perform certain tasks.
50%, This disability rating for ptsd indicates difficulties not only in work performance but also social impairment that can hinder work and social relations, impairments in judgment and understanding of complex tasks, and more frequent panic attacks, usually occurring more than once a week.
70%, With a 70% ptsd va rating or other psychological conditions disability rating, a veteran could suffer from impaired judgment, thought process, and mood which would affect relations in and out of work. There could also be problems with impulse control, using appropriate speech, and maintaining personal hygiene. Or the individual may engage in obsessive or compulsive rituals such as frequent hand washing. At this VA disability ptsd rating, it may be possible to receive VA disability benefits for individual unemployability which offers the same pay as a 100% rating, but without having the rating increased.
100%, With a 100% disability rating, the VA considers the veteran to have Total Occupational and Social Impairment and is considered to be unable to perform everyday tasks as a result of the psychological disorder. In some cases the individual may experience frequent hallucinations, engage in delusional thinking, or possibly be in danger of hurting themselves or others.
At the 100% disability rating for PTSD, a veteran receives the maximum amount of disability pay, which ranges from $3,946.25 per month to $4,433.39 as of 2024. However it is important to understand that the VA doesn't just add up the percentages for multiple conditions. For this reason, VA ratings of 100% are not easy to obtain even with claims for multiple disabilities. In some cases Individual Unemployability may be an option to receive VA disability benefits equal to those of a 100% rating without actually raising your rating. This can be especially effective for VA ratings of 70%.
VA Disability Ratings With Multiple Psychological Conditions
Anxiety and Depression are common PTSD symptoms, though they also may be separate conditions with their own VA ratings. Bipolar disease is another example. If the disease arises, due to a traumatic event, during military service, or because of military service, the disease is compensable. However, the VA doesn't allow the same symptoms to be rated for more than one condition. For example they won't issue a VA disability rating for anxiety and a VA disability rating for depression. Since the VA will only issue one disability rating for a psychological disorder, including all PTSD symptoms in your claim can improve your PTSD VA rating or disability rating for other mental health conditions
The Attorneys at the Friedman Firm Are Experienced with Veterans Disability Claims
The attorneys at the Friedman Firm are experienced with making disability compensation claims that include all relevant ptsd symptoms and connect a veteran's symptoms to the highest possible VA disability rating for PTSD or other psychological and mental disorders. We are also experienced with claims. Our goal as the veteran's attorney is to obtain medical evidence of the psychological disease, whatever it may be, and then show how that evidence limits the veteran's ability to work..