# PTSD VA rating criteria: the general rating formula

> The complete General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders — 0% to 100% — that VA applies to PTSD under DC 9411, with a plain-language reading of every level.

Canonical: https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/criteria

Last updated: 2026-11-05

Updated November 5, 2026 · By AIVA

PTSD is rated under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders: 100% for total occupational and social impairment, 70% for deficiencies in most areas, 50% for reduced reliability and productivity, 30% for occasional decrease in work efficiency, 10% for mild or transient symptoms or symptoms controlled by continuous medication, and 0% for a formal diagnosis without interfering symptoms. The symptom lists are examples — “such as” — not checklists.

## What’s your situation?

- VA denied my claim: [What to check after a denial](https://aivaclaims.com/guides/va-claim-denied)
- I'm claiming this condition for the first time: [How to file a VA claim for PTSD](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/how-to-file)
- My current rating no longer fits: [PTSD rating increase: showing the next level](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/rating-increase)
- I have a claim exam coming up: [C&P exam preparation](https://aivaclaims.com/guides/c-and-p-exam-preparation)

## PTSD VA ratings: 0% to 100%

| Rating | Criteria — General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders (DC 9411) | In plain language | Watch for |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **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 | Total occupational and social impairment — the condition prevents functioning at work and in social life. | This is the only level that requires total impairment in both work and social functioning. |
| **70%** | 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 | Deficiencies in most areas — work, family relations, judgment, thinking, mood — short of total impairment. | Suicidal ideation and near-continuous panic or depression are the examples named at this level. |
| **50%** | 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 | Reduced reliability and productivity — you function, but symptoms like weekly-plus panic attacks and flattened affect cut into work and relationships. | The examples include difficulty understanding complex commands and impaired memory for completing tasks. |
| **30%** | 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) | Occasional drops in work efficiency with intermittent periods of inability, while generally functioning satisfactorily. | Chronic sleep impairment and weekly-or-less panic attacks are the examples the formula names at this level. |
| **10%** | 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 | Mild or transient symptoms that reduce efficiency only during significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication. | A diagnosis controlled by medication still rates 10% when the medication is continuous — control by medication is written into this level. |
| **0%** | 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 | A formal diagnosis whose symptoms are not severe enough to interfere with functioning or to require continuous medication. | 0% still records the condition as service-connected; the percentage measures impairment, not whether the condition counts. |

\**Notes from the regulation:**

- Schedule note (2): Ratings under diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440 will be evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders.
- The symptom lists are introduced by “such as” — they are examples of each level, not a checklist every veteran must match symptom for symptom.

Source: [38 CFR 4.130, General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders — DC 9411 (eCFR)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-4/section-4.130)

## [Examples, not a checklist](#examples-not-a-checklist)

Every level of the formula introduces its symptoms with “due to such symptoms as.” That phrasing matters: a veteran does not need every listed symptom to hold a level, and having one listed symptom does not guarantee it. What the rater is matching is the level of occupational and social impairment the whole record shows — the symptoms are evidence of that impairment, offered by the regulation as illustrations.

It also works in the other direction. Symptoms the formula never names can still support a level if the record shows they produce the impairment that level describes. Lay statements and treatment notes that describe functioning — missed work, abandoned relationships, inability to complete tasks — are therefore rating evidence, not background color.

[38 CFR 4.130, General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders — DC 9411 (eCFR)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-4/section-4.130)

## In this series: PTSD VA rating

- [The PTSD DBQ and C&P exam](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/dbq)

  What the PTSD Disability Benefits Questionnaire covers — diagnosis, the occupational and social impairment summary, and the symptom record — and how it feeds the rating formula.
- [How to file a VA claim for PTSD](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/how-to-file)

  The three elements of a PTSD claim — current diagnosis, in-service stressor, and a link between them — and the evidence that establishes each one.
- [PTSD rating increase: showing the next level](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/rating-increase)

  An increase turns on impairment, not diagnosis: what has to change between the formula's levels, and the records that prove the change.
- [Sleep apnea secondary to PTSD](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/secondary-sleep-apnea)

  How veterans pursue sleep apnea as secondary to service-connected PTSD — the sleep-study diagnosis, the nexus opinion, and how apnea itself is rated under DC 6847.

## [How VA picks a level](#how-va-picks-a-level)

The rater weighs the C&P examiner's assessment together with treatment records over time, medication history, work history, and lay evidence. Where the record shows symptoms spanning two levels, the question is which level's overall impairment picture the record more closely matches. Records that describe a single good day or a single bad day out of context are the weakest evidence in the file; records that show the pattern across months are the strongest.

Medication cuts one specific way in this formula: symptoms controlled by continuous medication are written into the 10% level expressly. Being stable on medication is not, by itself, evidence that symptoms are absent.

[38 CFR 4.130, General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders — DC 9411 (eCFR)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-4/section-4.130)

## Criteria self-check worksheet

Work through the formula level by level with your treatment records in front of you. The worksheet organizes your own record against the levels; it does not predict what VA will decide.

- List your current symptoms and how often each occurs
- Note the symptoms your medication controls, and the medication itself
- Write down the work effects: missed days, tasks dropped, conflicts, jobs lost
- Write down the social effects: relationships strained or ended, activities given up
- Compare the whole picture with each level's impairment clause, starting at 30%
- Mark which level's examples appear in your treatment records, not only in your own account

## Related help

- [PTSD VA rating hub](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating)
- [The PTSD DBQ and C&P exam](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/dbq)
- [PTSD rating increase: showing the next level](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/rating-increase)

## Check your likely claim paths

Answer a few taps in AIVA's pre-eligibility check and see the paths that may fit your situation, before you decide anything.

[Start the pre-eligibility check](https://aivaclaims.com/check)

This educational series reproduces and explains the linked regulation and VA sources. It is not an individual legal or medical assessment, and it does not predict a rating. For representation or help with your claim, [find VA-accredited assistance](https://www.va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative/). Check the current VA instructions and your own decision letter before filing.