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July 5, 2019

100 Percent VA Disability for PTSD Explained

Last updated on December 7, 2022

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In this post, we will be exploring the 100 Percent VA disability for PTSD rating in detail.

So let’s take a minute to explore the law regarding the level of occupational and social impairment required to meet the 100 VA disability for PTSD.

PTSD among the easiest VA disability claims to win

According to the easiest VA claims to win data, PTSD is in the top 3 across all groups of veterans.

Furthermore, 28.0% of all VA claim compensation recipients for PTSD have a 70 PTSD rating while 13.1% have a 100 PTSD rating.

eCFR Title 38, Part 4, the Schedule for Rating Disabilities lists the general rating formula for all mental disorders, including PTSD.

PTSD is rated on a scale from 0 percent to 100 percent, with breaks at 10, 30, 50, and 70.

The 100 PTSD rating has the MOST severe level of occupational and social impairment criteria and includes symptoms as follows.

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100 Percent VA disability rating for PTSD criteria

“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.”

Whereas the 70 PTSD rating is markedly less severe, and includes the following symptoms:

70 Percent VA disability rating for PTSD criteria

“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.”

A big misconception among veterans is that you need to meet ALL the subjective symptoms tied with a certain rating criterion for PTSD in order to get that rating.

This is simply not true.

The Rating Veteran Service Representative (RVSR) will consider all the evidence of record, and normally will assign the VA rating for PTSD that includes the “preponderance of the symptoms.”

For example, if a veteran has 3 of the symptoms from the 70 rating for PTSD criteria and 5 of the symptoms from the 100 PTSD VA rating criteria, the rating agency shall assign the higher rating, unless evidence of record contradicts this subjective assessment.

The opposite is also true.

For example, if a veteran has 5 of the symptoms from the 70 rating for PTSD criteria and 3 of the symptoms from the 100 PTSD VA rating criteria, the rating agency shall assign the lower rating, unless evidence of record contradicts this subjective assessment.

Two Rules for PTSD VA Ratings

According to §4.126, evaluation of disability from mental disorders, the RVSR (VA Rating Official) is required to consider these two rules:

(1) When evaluating PTSD, the rating agency shall consider the frequency, severity, and duration of psychiatric symptoms, the length of remissions, and the veteran’s capacity for adjustment during periods of remission.

The rating agency shall assign an evaluation based on all the evidence of record that bears on occupational and social impairment rather than solely on the examiner’s assessment of the level of disability now of the examination.

(2) When evaluating the level of disability for PTSD, the rating agency will consider the extent of social impairment but shall not assign an evaluation solely on the basis of social impairment.

WATCH: PTSD and Mental Health Claims

How to File a VA Claim for PTSD

If you think you deserve a VA rating for PTSD, or you think you deserve a higher rating for PTSD, you should read “How to File a VA Claim for PTSD” now.


Brian Reese
Brian Reese

Brian Reese

Brian Reese is one of the top VA disability benefits experts in the world and bestselling author of You Deserve It: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Veteran Benefits You’ve Earned (Second Edition).

Brian’s frustration with the VA claim process led him to create VA Claims Insider, which provides disabled veterans with tips, strategies, and lessons learned to win their VA disability compensation claim, faster, even if they’ve already filed, been denied, gave up, or don’t know where to start. 

As the founder of VA Claims Insider and CEO of Military Disability Made Easy, he has helped serve more than 10 million military members and veterans since 2013 through free online educational resources.

He is a former active duty Air Force officer with extensive experience leading hundreds of individuals and multi-functional teams in challenging international environments, including a combat tour to Afghanistan in 2011 supporting Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.

Brian is a Distinguished Graduate of Management from the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, and he holds an MBA from Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business, Stillwater, OK, where he was a National Honor Scholar (Top 1% of Graduate School class).

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