VA Disability for Mental Health Conditions: How to Qualify, Get Rated, and Get the Benefits You’ve Earned
If you’re a veteran living with PTSD, depression, anxiety, or another service-related mental health condition, you may be entitled to tax-free VA disability benefits. The challenge is proving what you already know: That your symptoms are real, connected to your service, and affecting your ability to work and live fully.
At Capovilla & Williams, we help veterans nationwide cut through the red tape and get the benefits they’ve earned. You’ve served your country. Now it’s our job to serve you. Call 855-442-6213 or send us a message via our consultation form.
VA Disability for Mental Health: The Basics
When VA approves a mental health condition as service-connected, you become eligible for monthly, tax-free compensation—money VA pays you to acknowledge that your service sacrifices have affected your ability to live and work.
The dollar amount depends on your rating percentage (from 0% to 100%). The higher the rating, the higher the payment.
Beyond money, you may also access:
- VA mental health care (counseling, psychiatry, therapy)
- TDIU (Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability), which pays you at a 100% rate even if your assigned rating is less than 100%, if your symptoms prevent you from holding gainful work
- Special Monthly Compensation (SMC), if your mental health imposes extreme impairment, like needing outside help with daily living tasks
Why Mental Health Claims Are Different
Mental health suffers from its subjective nature: there’s no X-ray or blood test that “proves” depression or PTSD. Having a diagnosis isn’t enough. The VA must see how the condition disrupts your ability to work, maintain relationships, and sustain daily life.
That’s why good documentation is essential: therapy notes, medication logs, statements from family or co-workers, psychological testing, and especially nexus opinions explaining how your service caused or worsened your condition.
Who Qualifies for Mental Health VA Disability?
To qualify for a VA mental health disability, you must have:
- Discharge under qualifying conditions (honorable or general under honorable conditions). If your discharge is less than honorable, you may not be eligible.
- Current diagnosis of a recognized mental health disorder (e.g., PTSD, major depression, generalized anxiety). A diagnosis must come from a qualified medical provider, typically a VA psychiatrist or psychologist, or a private mental health professional whose evaluation meets VA criteria.
- Service connection: You must link your diagnosis to military service, either because the service caused it, aggravated it, or because it occurred secondary to another service-connected condition.
- Evidence of functional impairment: VA needs proof that symptoms interfere with work, social life, stress tolerance, or daily tasks. A diagnosis without impairment is insufficient under VA’s regulations.
Which Mental Disorders Qualify for VA Disability?
The VA recognizes 31 mental health conditions for disability compensation under 38 C.F.R. § 4.130, all rated using DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. To qualify, your condition must be diagnosed by a qualified provider and linked to military service. The most common service-connected mental health claim is PTSD, followed by major depressive disorder and chronic adjustment disorder.
Most Common Service-Connected Mental Health Conditions
| Condition | Diagnostic Code | Common Symptoms |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | 9411 | Flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, avoidance |
| Major Depressive Disorder | 9434 | Persistent sadness, loss of interest, hopelessness |
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder | 9400 | Excessive worry, restlessness, difficulty concentrating |
| Panic Disorder | 9412 | Recurrent panic attacks, fear of future episodes |
| Bipolar Disorder | 9432 | Extreme mood swings, manic and depressive episodes |
| Chronic Adjustment Disorder | 9440 | Difficulty coping with stressful circumstances |
Additional Qualifying Conditions
The VA’s rating schedule includes these recognized mental health disorders:
- Anxiety Disorders: Social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, unspecified anxiety disorder
- Depressive Disorders: Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia), unspecified depressive disorder
- Psychotic Disorders: Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder
- Neurocognitive Disorders: TBI-related cognitive disorders, dementia, delirium, Alzheimer’s-related disorders
- Dissociative Disorders: Dissociative amnesia, dissociative identity disorder, depersonalization/derealization disorder
- Somatic Disorders: Somatic symptom disorder, conversion disorder, illness anxiety disorder
- Mood Disorders: Cyclothymic disorder
- Eating Disorders: Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa (rated separately under codes 9520-9521)
Mental Health Conditions that Don’t Qualify
Personality disorders and intellectual disability are explicitly excluded from compensation unless a separate mental health disorder is overlaid on them. Examples of these conditions include:
- Borderline personality disorder
- Antisocial personality disorder
- Narcissistic personality disorder
- Paranoid personality disorder
- Avoidant personality disorder
The VA also does not grant direct service connection for substance use disorders, including alcohol abuse or drug addiction.
Can You Get Benefits for Multiple Health Conditions?
The short answer is: No, not separately. VA gives you one combined rating for all your service-connected mental health conditions.
Here’s what that means:
- Even if you have multiple diagnoses (e.g., PTSD, major depressive disorder, and anxiety), VA will aggregate the signs and symptoms across all mental health conditions and issue a single mental health disability rating using the General Rating Formula.
- VA prohibits “pyramiding” for mental conditions under 38 C.F.R. § 4.14. That means you can’t get overlapping ratings for the same symptoms just because they are attributed to different diagnoses.
As a result, simply having more diagnoses doesn’t automatically mean a higher rating. Instead, your claim must show how severe and disabling your symptoms are in aggregate.
How to Establish Service Connection for Mental Health
To get VA disability for a mental health condition, you must link that condition to your military service. This link can be direct, secondary, or an aggravation of an existing condition.
Under 38 U.S.C. § 1110, the VA requires three essential elements to establish service connection: (1) a current disability, (2) an in-service event, injury, or aggravation, and (3) a medical nexus linking the two.
- Direct Service Connection
You show that your mental health condition began during service (or shortly after) and that there’s a nexus (medical link) between the service event and your condition. Evidence often includes:
- Service treatment records
- Stressor or trauma documentation
- Private or VA medical records
- Expert opinions supporting the connection
- Secondary Service Connection
Even if the mental health condition didn’t start in service, it may arise as a consequence of another service-connected condition. For example, a veteran with a service-linked chronic pain condition later develops depression. You must show a causal link that the existing service disability caused or contributed to the mental health disorder.
- Aggravation of Preexisting Conditions
If you had a mental health issue before entering service, VA may still compensate you if service significantly worsened it beyond its natural progression. You must show that the worsening was beyond what would be expected from normal progression.
- Presumption of Service Connection
In some limited cases, VA presumes a connection, meaning you don’t need to prove everything yourself. This is rare in mental health claims, but may apply under special exposure or combat stress cases. For example, former prisoners of war may have presumptive service connection to anxiety disorders under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(c).
- Special Cases & Stressor Rules
Because mental health claims often rest on traumatic events or stressors, VA applies special rules:
- For PTSD, you must prove a credible stressor (e.g., combat, assault, MST) unless certain exceptions apply.
- For Military Sexual Trauma (MST), VA uses a more liberal standard for proving the stressor, based on 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f)(5). Evidence other than the veteran’s account service record can corroborate the stressor incident.
- In delayed onset cases, where symptoms begin years after service, you’ll need to show continuity of symptoms, delayed manifestation, or a medical rationale for latency.
VA Disability Ratings Criteria for Mental Health
The VA assigns disability percentages based on how much a service-connected mental health condition limits your ability to work and function socially. Ratings are set using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders under 38 CFR § 4.130.
- 0% Rating (Non-Compensable): You have a confirmed diagnosis, but symptoms are mild or well-controlled and cause no significant work or social limitations.
- 10% Rating: Mild or occasional symptoms that reduce efficiency only under significant stress, often managed with medication.
- 30% Rating: Noticeable interference with work or relationships at times, such as anxiety, depression, mild memory loss, or weekly panic attacks.
- 50% Rating: Reduced reliability and productivity due to mood swings, impaired judgment, or difficulty following complex tasks.
- 70% Rating: Major deficiencies in most areas of life, including near-continuous depression or panic, suicidal thoughts, neglect of self-care, or inability to handle stress.
- 100% Rating: Total occupational and social impairment, marked by severe cognitive disruption, persistent hallucinations, or inability to maintain hygiene or orientation.
Ratings Examples & Case Scenarios
- A veteran with chronic anxiety and occasional panic, but largely functional in low-stress jobs, might fall in the 30% range.
- A veteran whose mental health symptoms regularly cause missed work, impaired relationships, and memory issues might deserve 50% or higher.
- In extreme cases, where daily life is almost impossible, the rating may reach 100%.
How Capovilla & Williams Can Help
The VA system can be confusing, frustrating, and painfully slow, especially when it comes to mental health claims. Too often, the people making decisions never see the full impact these conditions have on your life. That’s where we come in.
At Capovilla & Williams, our attorneys build every case around evidence, expert opinions, and your story. Whether you’re filing for the first time or fighting for a fair rating, we’ll make sure VA sees the full picture of what you’re living with and why you deserve compensation.
We’ve helped countless veterans across the country secure the benefits they earned through service and sacrifice, and we’ll fight to do the same for you. Call 855-442-6213 or fill out our contact form for a free case evaluation today.
