VA PTSD Ratings: What Separates 50% From 100%

The VA does not rate your PTSD diagnosis, it rates your degree of occupational and social impairment, which is what moves you from 50% to 70% to 100%. Two veterans with the identical diagnosis can land at different ratings because the symptoms in 38 CFR 4.130 are examples, not a checklist. With Nova, Professor Erica, Isabella, and Kai, this breakdown walks the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders (Diagnostic Code 9411) one rung at a time and shows how the C and P examiner’s DBQ language becomes your percentage.

In this video:

• Why PTSD shares one formula with depression and anxiety, not a special scale
• The exact regulatory language that defines the 50, 70, and 100 percent levels
• How the C and P exam summary line maps almost word for word to your rating
• Why two veterans with the same diagnosis can land at very different rungs
• The 3.304(f)(3) rule that lets lay testimony alone prove a fear-of-hostile stressor
• The 2026 monthly dollar amounts for 50, 70, and 100 percent for a veteran with no dependents