VA Diagnostic Code 9210Other specified and unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders

VA Disability Ratings for Schizophrenia Spectrum & Other Psychotic Disorders (Diagnostic Code 9210)

Understanding the Condition

Other specified and unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders is a mental health condition rated under the VA's schedule for Mental Disorders (Diagnostic Code 9210, found in § 4.130 of the Code of Federal Regulations).

Like other mental health conditions in this section, it is evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. Rather than focusing on a diagnosis alone, this formula looks at how symptoms affect a person's ability to function at work and in social settings. Ratings are assigned in levels — 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100% — with each level reflecting a greater degree of occupational and social impairment.

The Rating Levels

Below is a plain-language look at each rating level and the kinds of symptoms associated with it.

100% — Total Impairment

Assigned when there is total occupational and social impairment. This may be due to symptoms such as:

• Gross impairment in thought processes or communication
• Persistent delusions or hallucinations
• Grossly inappropriate behavior
• Persistent danger of hurting oneself or others
• Intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintaining minimal personal hygiene)
• Disorientation to time or place
• Memory loss for names of close relatives, one's own occupation, or one's own name

70% — Deficiencies in Most Areas

Assigned when there is occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas — such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood. Associated symptoms may include:

• Suicidal ideation
• Obsessional rituals that interfere with routine activities
• Speech that is 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 adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a work-like setting)
• Inability to establish and maintain effective relationships

50% — Reduced Reliability and Productivity

Assigned when there is occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity. Associated symptoms may include:

• Flattened affect
• Circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech
• Panic attacks more than once a week
• Difficulty understanding complex commands
• Impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retaining only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks)
• Impaired judgment
• Impaired abstract thinking
• Disturbances of motivation and mood
• Difficulty establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships

30% — Occasional Decrease in Work Efficiency

Assigned when there is occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks — while generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal. Associated symptoms may include:

• Depressed mood
• Anxiety
• Suspiciousness
• Panic attacks (weekly or less often)
• Chronic sleep impairment
• Mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, or recent events)

10% — Mild or Transient Symptoms

Assigned when there is occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms that decrease work efficiency and the ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress — or symptoms that are controlled by continuous medication.

0% — Diagnosed, But Not Currently Impairing

Assigned when 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.

What the VA Looks For

When rating this condition under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, the VA focuses on the degree of occupational and social impairment caused by the condition's symptoms. Across all levels, the assessment considers:

• How symptoms affect work and social life — the central measure that separates each rating level.
• The severity and frequency of symptoms — ranging from mild or transient symptoms (10%) up to total impairment of thought, communication, and daily functioning (100%).
• Whether symptoms are controlled by continuous medication — relevant at the 10% and 0% levels.
• Whether a formal diagnosis exists even when symptoms are not currently impairing (0%).

The symptoms listed at each level are examples of the kind and severity of impairment that supports that rating — they illustrate what a given level of impairment can look like.