VA Diagnostic Code 9416Dissociative amnesia; dissociative identity disorder

Dissociative Amnesia & Dissociative Identity Disorder (VA Diagnostic Code 9416)

Mental Disorders · 38 CFR § 4.130 · Rated under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders

Understanding the Condition

Dissociative amnesia and dissociative identity disorder are mental health conditions that the VA recognizes under Diagnostic Code 9416. Like other mental disorders in this category, they are evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. This means the VA assigns a disability percentage based on how much the condition affects your ability to work and maintain social relationships — not simply on the diagnosis itself.

Ratings range from 0% to 100%, with each level reflecting an increasing degree of occupational and social impairment.

Available Rating Levels

100% — Total Impairment

Assigned for total occupational and social impairment, due to symptoms such 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 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 for occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas — such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood — due to symptoms such as:

• Suicidal ideation
• Obsessional rituals that 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 adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting)
• Inability to establish and maintain effective relationships

50% — Reduced Reliability and Productivity

Assigned for occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, due to symptoms such as:

• 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 for occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (though generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to symptoms such 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

Assigned for 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, Minimal Impact

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 dissociative amnesia or dissociative identity disorder, the VA focuses on the degree of occupational and social impairment your symptoms cause. Under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, the evaluation considers:

• How your condition affects your ability to work — including work efficiency, reliability, and the ability to perform occupational tasks.
• How your condition affects your social and family relationships.
• The specific symptoms present and their frequency and severity, such as those listed at each rating level above.
• Whether symptoms are controlled by medication or require continuous treatment.

The rating reflects the overall picture of how the condition impacts daily functioning, drawing on the example symptoms described at each level.