VA Diagnostic Code 9432Bipolar disorder

Bipolar Disorder VA Disability Rating (Diagnostic Code 9432)

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition rated by the VA under § 4.130, within the Mental Disorders body system. Like other mental health conditions in this section, it is evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders.

How the VA Rates Bipolar Disorder

The VA assigns a disability rating based on how much your symptoms affect your ability to work and function socially. Ratings range from 0% to 100%. In general, the more your symptoms interfere with occupational and social functioning, the higher the rating.

Below are the rating levels the VA uses for bipolar disorder.

100% Rating

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% Rating

Occupational and social 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% Rating

Occupational and social 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% Rating

Occupational and social 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% Rating

Occupational and social 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% Rating

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 bipolar disorder, the VA focuses on:

• A formal diagnosis of the mental condition.
• The degree of occupational and social impairment — how symptoms affect your work and relationships.
• The specific symptoms present and their frequency and severity, matched against the levels described above.
• Whether symptoms require continuous medication or are controlled by it.

Each rating level describes a general degree of impairment along with example symptoms the VA considers when determining where your condition fits within the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders.