How To Get a 100 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

Mar 18, 2020

Photo by John Banks

Originally Posted On: https://www.woodslawyers.com/get-100-percent-va-disability-rating-ptsd/

Veterans can receive a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD. This page explains what you should expect when applying or appealing for a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD.

If you have questions after reading the article below, give us a call. There is never a fee to discuss how to get a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD. There is never a charge for a PTSD claim evaluation. Click here to get help now.

VA Disability Rating Table For PTSD & Mental Conditions

Veterans with severe mental conditions may obtain a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD. Your PTSD rating is going to be given a rating under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. That means the VA is going to consider all your mental impairments together.

To get a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD you are going to have to fit into the below requirements. If the VA finds your PTSD to be service-connected, you will receive one of the below ratings:

100 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

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

70 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

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 thoughts
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 work-like setting)
inability to establish and maintain effective relationships

50 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as:

flattened affect (very bland disposition, apathetic, no emotions)
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

30 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

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)

10 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

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

0 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

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.

Watch this video on YouTube

This video explains how the General VA Rating Formula works:

Combined 100 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD & Other Conditions

Anxiety: PTSD is often linked to anxiety. If you are applying for PTSD and have anxiety, don’t forget to include your anxiety as a service-connected condition.
Bipolar Disorder: Many veterans with PTSD also suffer from bipolar disorder. Studies have shown there is a link between the two conditions.
Depression: Depression often stems from PTSD. Many veterans cannot live their lives as they did before PTSD and that can cause depression. There are many other ways depression and PTSD are linked to each other.
Major Depressive Disorder: Veterans with a diagnosis of PTSD and major depressive disorder can often link both mental conditions to the same traumatic event.
Military Sexual Trauma (MST): The number of veterans who were subject to sexual trauma is shocking! PTSD can relate back to a traumatic sexual event. These two conditions are very closely intertwined.
Schizophrenia: A very large number of veterans with PTSD also have a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The PTSD stressor event that is responsible for your PTSD may also be a trigger for your schizophrenia.
Sleep Disorders: PTSD is regularly linked to sleep disorders that can seriously affect veterans’ lives. There are many different sleep disorders that may be related to your PTSD.

Evidence Needed To Obtain a 100 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

As you already know, the Veterans Benefits Administration won’t just hand you a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD. To win your 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD, you will need to submit evidence that backs up your VA claims.

Think like a veterans disability benefits lawyer when applying for your 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD. You will make your argument to the VA through evidence like service records and medical records. Present the strongest argument you can to the VA to obtain your 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD.

Evidence that veterans regularly use to win their PTSD claims:

PTSD Stressors: When applying for a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD, you should tell the VA why you have PTSD. You want to expressly state what stressor event caused your PTSD. If you have records or photos of the PTSD stressor event, you should use them. Remember, you can use both combat and non-combat PTSD stressors.
Buddy Statements: If you have missing service records, you may want to get statements from fellow service members who were at the PTSD stressor event. Have them recall the event in writing and use that as evidence. Our lawyers regularly use veterans buddy statements when fighting the VA — it’s a great tool that is underused.
Friends and Family Statements: When trying to obtain a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD, many veterans don’t have records and they can’t find their fellow service members. Sometimes statements from civilian friends and family members can help. Have them write how you changed when you came home from the service. Veterans can use these powerful statements to show how military service affected them.
Psychological Reports: One thing our PTSD veterans disability benefits lawyers often do is have our clients work with a psychologist. Reports from medical professionals can be used when applying and in the VA disability benefits appeal process. We always use psychologists who are not connected to the VA. We want our clients to work with an impartial psychologist.

Applying For Your 100 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

Include all your mental and physical impairments: Remember to include any mental or physical impairments you think may be service-connected or secondary service-connected. The VA disability process can be made simpler by filing for all your impairments on the same claim. Some veterans file them separately and it can make their claim a little more complicated — but you can still get benefits that way.
Provide relevant evidence: Make sure to read the later section about evidence. When applying, include relevant evidence to bolster your claim. Evidence is the key to obtaining a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD. You need to prove you are entitled to benefits through documentation. Remember, you are trying to build a case.
Complete all your forms correctly: You probably just rolled your eyes, but lots of veterans make small mistakes that end in VA disability denials. We have seen veterans denied because they put down incorrect information about where they served and the VA couldn’t find the vet in their system.
Send your application to the right place: All applications don’t get sent to the same place. The VA has several different places claims get processed. If you aren’t sure where to send your application, give us a call and we can make sure you find the right place to send your application.
Be patient: The VA disability process is not fast, you already know that. Your application for a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD is not going to be decided overnight. The veterans disability benefits timeline for claims is lengthy and there isn’t much you can do speed the process up except for submit everything correctly. There are only a handful of people that can expedite their claims and even expedited VA disability claims move through the system slowly.

Use our VA Disability Calculator to estimate your combined VA rating and monthly entitlement here.

Appealing For Your 100 Percent VA Disability Rating For PTSD

If you have received your VA Rating Decision letter and you are either (1) rated too low or (2) denied, you can appeal. Remember, you only have one year from the date the VA made the decision to file your PTSD VA disability benefits appeal.

If your Rating Decision was made over a year ago and your condition has worsened, you can file for a VA Disability PTSD rating increase. Essentially you are telling the VA that PTSD is now affecting your life more than it was when you received your previous rating.

If you are appealing to receive a 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD, make sure you have included all your service-connected conditions that are not rated correctly. The VA can consider all your appealed impairments at one time.

If you need help with your 100 percent VA disability rating for PTSD appeal, talk to Woods & Woods VA disability compensation lawyers for free. We never charge veterans for PTSD claim consultations. Our law firm has successfully filed thousands of PTSD appeals. For help, click here to fill out the contact form to start the process.

Individual Unemployability & PTSD Claims

Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU) benefits are for veterans that cannot work from their service-connected conditions. TDIU benefits are available for both mental and physical conditions. TDIU benefits pay the same as a 100 percent VA disability rating.

PTSD Individual Unemployability benefits are available for veterans with employment problems. If your PTSD and related conditions are severe enough and you cannot obtain or keep meaningful employment, you may be eligible.

Have questions about Individual Unemployability benefits? Give us a call. There is never a charge to talk to Woods & Woods Individual Unemployability lawyers.

Have you been denied Individual Unemployability benefits? We can help. Woods & Woods Individual Unemployability benefit denial lawyers only charge a fee if your appeal is successful. Our VA benefits appeals lawyers have filed thousands of appeals against the VA. To get your free PTSD Individual Unemployability claim evaluation, click here to fill out the contact form.