Public rules. This is not your rating.
This page shows VA’s public rules for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It uses plain words, then the exact words from the rule book. PTSD uses the same mental health rules as other mental health conditions. This is not your rating. We do not say you have PTSD. We do not file. The forms below are real VA forms. You fill them out and send them. We do not. If you are in crisis, call 988 and press 1, or text 838255. This page is not crisis care.
Official schedule last verified 2026-10-04. We teach and organize. We do not file.
We help you review your documents against the published rating criteria. Rating criteria are the public rules VA published. This is education and organizing. It is not a promise of a rating. We do not decide the claim. We do not file.
A VA exam is a short visit. Write how often something happens, how long it lasts, and how it stops normal life, only if that is true. If those facts are not in the papers you send, the exam may not have them. We do not write them for you. We do not file.
CFR means the Code of Federal Regulations. DC means diagnostic code. Those are public rule numbers.
Published: 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. — 100% in the rule book (a level in the rule book, not your rating and not your pay).
The highest level means you cannot work, and you cannot get along with people at all. The words after “such symptoms as” are examples. They do not all have to be true. This page does not say you are at this level. It is not your pay. It does not tell you which symptoms to write down.
Published: 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. — 70% in the rule book (a level in the rule book, not your rating and not your pay).
This level means serious problems in most parts of life, such as work, school, family, judgment, thinking, or mood. The words after “such symptoms as” are examples. They do not all have to be true. This page does not say you are at this level. It is not your pay. It does not tell you which symptoms to write down.
Published: 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. — 50% in the rule book (a level in the rule book, not your rating and not your pay).
This level means work and getting along with people are less steady. The words after “such symptoms as” are examples. They do not all have to be true. This page does not say you are at this level. It is not your pay. It does not tell you which symptoms to write down.
Published: 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). — 30% in the rule book (a level in the rule book, not your rating and not your pay).
This level means work slows down sometimes, but day-to-day life mostly still works. The words after “such symptoms as” are examples. They do not all have to be true. This page does not say you are at this level. It is not your pay. It does not tell you which symptoms to write down.
Published: 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. — 10% in the rule book (a level in the rule book, not your rating and not your pay).
This level means mild symptoms that get in the way only when stress is high, or symptoms that stay in check with medicine you take all the time. This page does not say you are at this level. It is not your pay.
Published: 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. — 0% in the rule book (a level in the rule book, not your rating and not your pay).
A 0 in the rule book means a doctor has named the condition, but the symptoms do not get in the way of work or daily life, and they do not need medicine all the time. This is a level in the rule book. It is not a decision about you. It is not your pay.
In plain words, many mental health conditions use the same rules. PTSD is one of them. If a brain injury and a mental health condition are both named, the rule book points mood and behavior to the mental health rules. Here is what the rule book says. Note 2 of 38 CFR 4.130 says ratings under diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440 will be evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. Posttraumatic stress disorder is 9411, inside that list. Diagnostic code 8045 says: Evaluate emotional/behavioral dysfunction under § 4.130 (Schedule of ratings—mental disorders) when there is a diagnosis of a mental disorder. When there is no diagnosis of a mental disorder, evaluate emotional/behavioral symptoms under the criteria in the table titled “Evaluation of Cognitive Impairment and Other Residuals of TBI Not Otherwise Classified.” That is how the rule book talks about related conditions. It is not a recommendation of what to claim.
Questions only. They do not make up a fact. They do not write the statement.
You fill out VA Form 21-0781 and the disability application yourself. We do not submit them.
VA Form 21-526EZ. Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits.
This is the main disability application. You fill it out and send it to VA. We do not send it.
VA Form 21-0781. Statement in Support of Claimed Mental Health Disorder(s) Due to an In-Service Traumatic Event(s).
VA’s form page says this form is optional. If you answer the mental health questions on the online application, that page says you do not also send this separate form. You still fill out and send anything you use. We do not send it.
You fill this out and send it to VA. We do not fill it in with your records. We do not send it. We do not make a packet that is ready to file.
Signed in? The forms list only helps you keep track. It does not fill a form. It does not send it.
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