PTSD Rating Scale Explained

In this post, we will be exploring the PTSD rating scale in detail.

VA ratings for PTSD depend on the severity of a veterans mental health symptoms.

The more severe the symptoms, the higher the VA rating for PTSD.

The average PTSD rating is currently at 70%, but veterans can be rated from 0% to 100% with breaks at 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%.

But first, let’s take a minute to explore the law regarding the level of occupational and social impairment for the PTSD rating scale.

List of Average VA Disability Ratings for PTSD

• The average VA disability rating for PTSD in FY 2019 was 70%
• Overall, 53.81% of veterans with a PTSD rating are either rated at 50% or 70%
• As of FY 2019, 1,754,644 veterans have a PTSD rating between 0% and 100%

Table of PTSD VA Ratings by Number and Percentage

Want to learn more about the PTSD Rating Scale?

What about the 30 VA disability rating for PTSD? Click HERE to read now.

Think you deserve an automatic 50 VA disability rating for PTSD? Click HERE to read now.

Maybe even a 70 VA disability rating for PTSD? Click HERE to read now.

How about a 100 VA disability rating for PTSD? Click HERE to read now.

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.

Here’s some interesting VA data regarding the PTSD rating scale for veterans receiving VA disability compensation for PTSD in 2019:

• 2.2% of all VA disability recipients for PTSD have a 0% PTSD rating.
• 7.1% of all VA disability compensation claim recipients for PTSD have a 10% VA rating for PTSD.
• 23.7% of all VA compensation claim recipients for PTSD have a 30% VA PTSD rating.
• 25.9% of all VA disability recipients for PTSD have a 50% PTSD rating.
• 28.0% of all VA claim recipients for PTSD have a 70% rating for PTSD.
• 13.1% of all VA disability claim recipients have a 100% PTSD rating.

Interested in finding out about PTSD Ratings in 2020? Click HERE now!

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

PTSD VA ratings range from 0% to 100%, with breaks at 10%, 30%, 50%, and 70%.

The average VA rating for PTSD in 2019 was 70%.

Should I apply for PTSD claim? Click HERE to read now.

PTSD Rating Scale from 0 to 100:

0 VA 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.

10 VA 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.

30 VA 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).

50 VA rating for PTSD

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.

70 VA 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 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.

100 VA 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.

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 on the PTSD rating scale.

This is far from the truth veterans!

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 50 rating for PTSD criteria and 5 of the symptoms from the 70 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 30 rating for PTSD criteria and 3 of the symptoms from the 50 PTSD VA rating criteria, the rating agency shall assign the lower rating, unless evidence of record contradicts this subjective assessment.

Two Rules for the PTSD Rating Scale

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 based on social impairment.

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.