# How to file a VA claim for PTSD > The three elements of a PTSD claim — current diagnosis, in-service stressor, and a link between them — and the evidence that establishes each one. Canonical: https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/how-to-file Last updated: 2026-11-05 Updated November 5, 2026 · By AIVA A PTSD claim needs three elements: a current PTSD diagnosis, an identifiable in-service stressor, and a medical link between the two. File with a personal stressor statement, the service records that place you at the event, and treatment records showing the diagnosis and symptoms — and protect the filing date with an Intent to File first if the records will take time to gather. ## What’s your situation? - VA denied my claim: [What to check after a denial](https://aivaclaims.com/guides/va-claim-denied) - 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) \**Deadline:** An Intent to File can protect your potential effective date for 1 year — file it before you gather evidence [Prepare an intent to file](https://aivaclaims.com/services/intent-to-file). ## [The three elements](#the-three-elements) A PTSD claim stands on three elements, and a denial usually names the one VA found missing. - Current diagnosis: PTSD diagnosed by a qualified provider, in treatment records or established at the C&P exam. The rating formula's 0% line presumes a formal diagnosis exists. - In-service stressor: a specific event or events during service — combat, an accident, an assault, a death you witnessed or responded to — described in your stressor statement with as much detail as you can give: unit, place, approximate date. - Nexus: a medical opinion or examination finding that the current PTSD is linked to that stressor. The C&P examiner is typically asked for this opinion; private treatment providers can give it too. [VA: Evidence needed for a disability claim](https://www.va.gov/disability/how-to-file-claim/evidence-needed/) ## In this series: PTSD VA rating - [PTSD VA rating criteria: the general rating formula](https://aivaclaims.com/conditions/ptsd-va-rating/criteria) 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. - [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. - [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. ## [Corroborating the stressor](#corroborating-the-stressor) VA looks for service records consistent with the stressor — personnel records showing the unit and deployment, records of the event itself, decorations, or statements from people who served with you. Where the stressor involves personal assault, VA accepts a wider range of supporting evidence, including records and behavioral changes documented after the event. If you are unsure what records exist, file the claim and the stressor statement anyway: VA has a duty to assist in looking for federal records, and the Intent to File deadline on this page protects your date while that search runs. [VA: How to file a disability claim](https://www.va.gov/disability/how-to-file-claim/) ## [What happens after filing](#what-happens-after-filing) VA schedules a C&P exam — the DBQ page in this series explains what the examiner records and how it maps to the percentages. The decision then assigns service connection and a percentage from the formula, or denies with reasons. A denial that never addresses your stressor statement, or that rests on an exam which did not review it, is the kind of defect the denied-claim lanes exist for. [VA: How to file a disability claim](https://www.va.gov/disability/how-to-file-claim/) ## PTSD filing checklist Assemble the claim around the three elements. Each item below maps to the element it proves, so a gap in the file is easy to spot before VA spots it. - Diagnosis: PTSD diagnosed by a qualified provider, in treatment records or to be established at the C&P exam - Stressor: your written statement of the event — unit, place, approximate date, your role - Corroboration: personnel or unit records, decorations, or buddy statements placing you at the event - Nexus: a provider or examiner opinion linking the diagnosis to the stressor - An Intent to File submitted first if the records will take time to gather ## 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) - [VA claim evidence checklist](https://aivaclaims.com/guides/va-claim-evidence-checklist) ## 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.