VA Diagnostic Code 9411Posttraumatic stress disorder

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — VA Disability Rating

Diagnostic Code 9411 · 38 CFR § 4.130 · Mental Disorders

What This Condition Is

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition classified by the VA under Mental Disorders. It is evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, the same framework the VA applies across mental health conditions in this section of the rating schedule.

How the VA Rates It

Under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, the VA assigns a percentage based on the degree of occupational and social impairment caused by the condition — in other words, how the symptoms affect a person's ability to work and maintain relationships. The listed symptoms at each level are examples of the kinds of impairment associated with that rating.

Available Rating Levels

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.

70% — 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.

50% — 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.

30% — 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).

10% — Mild or transient symptoms 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.

0% — Formally diagnosed, minimal impact 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.

What the VA Looks For

When rating PTSD, the VA focuses on:

• The level of occupational and social impairment — how symptoms affect work and relationships.
• The specific symptoms present and how they match the examples described at each rating level.
• Whether symptoms are controlled by continuous medication, which is relevant at the lower rating levels.
• A formal diagnosis of the mental condition, which is the baseline requirement reflected at the 0% level.