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Rating guide · Mental health

Depression & Anxiety: Ratings and Real Paths to Service Connection

Depression and anxiety are some of the most under-claimed conditions in the VA system, often because veterans don’t realize they can be connected to a back injury, constant ringing in the ears, or a career’s worth of stress.

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Exact rating criteria
Secondary to pain & tinnitus
One combined rating
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How it’s rated

One Formula for Every Mental Health Condition

Major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD and other mental health conditions are all rated under the same General Rating Formula in 38 CFR 4.130. If you have more than one, the VA assigns one rating that reflects all of your symptoms together.

What decides the percentage is the effect on your life: whether you can keep up at work, keep relationships going, and handle day-to-day responsibilities. The examples listed at each level are guides, not a checklist.

38 CFR 4.130

The Official Rating Criteria

Quoted from the VA rating schedule, with 2026 monthly pay for a veteran with no dependents.

Current as of October 2026. Pay effective December 1, 2025; dependents add more at 30% and above.
Rating	VA criteria	2026 pay (alone)
100%	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.	$3,938.58
70%	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.	$1,808.45
50%	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.	$1,132.90
30%	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).	$552.47
10%	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.	$180.42
0%	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.	$0.00

Service connection

The Secondary Route Most Veterans Miss

You don’t have to show depression started in service. If a service-connected condition caused it or made it worse, it can be connected on a secondary basis. Common examples:

Chronic pain from a back or knee injury that ended the work you used to do
Constant tinnitus that wrecks sleep and concentration
Frequent migraines or a traumatic brain injury

The key evidence is a medical opinion explaining how the physical condition led to the mental health condition.

Direct service connection still works too: symptoms or treatment during service, or behavior changes that others noticed after a specific event.

The exam

Before Your Mental Health Exam

Make a list of symptoms, how often they happen, and how long they last.
Be specific about impact: days you couldn’t get out of bed, conflicts at work, pulling away from family.
Don’t downplay it. Many veterans answer “I’m fine” out of habit.

Exams may be at the Fargo VA Medical Center, with a contracted examiner, or by telehealth.

FAQ

Depression & Anxiety VA Rating: Common Questions

Can depression from my back injury be service-connected?

Yes, if your back condition is service-connected and a medical opinion links the depression to it. That’s secondary service connection.

Do I need to have been treated in the military?

No. In-service treatment helps for direct service connection, but secondary service connection doesn’t require it, and a current diagnosis from a private provider counts.

Will I get separate ratings for depression and anxiety?

No. The VA rates all mental health conditions together as one rating based on your overall level of impairment.

Does being on medication hurt my rating?

Not by itself. The criteria account for symptoms controlled by continuous medication at 10%, and higher ratings reflect the impairment that remains even with treatment.

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