Understanding the Depression VA Rating and Disability Benefits

Veterans experiencing depression may wonder whether they are eligible for VA disability compensation. If you can prove your depression was caused or worsened by your service, you could be owed as much as $3,938.58 each month.

In this post we will explain the VA rating for depression and what to expect at a depression C&P exam. We also explain depression DBQs and what veterans can do if their service-connected depression prevents them from keeping a job. 

Depression in veterans

Depression is a mental health disorder that affects a person’s mood, as well as how they think, act, and see the world. It may affect other factors like their sleep, appetite, and desire to participate in hobbies and activities they typically enjoy.

There are several types of depressive disorders, including persistent depressive disorder. Clinical depression, also called major depressive disorder, is considered the most serious type.

The VA offers resources for veterans with depression including access to VA healthcare and free private counseling. You can learn more or take a depression self-assessment on the VA’s mental health website. 

Resources are also available at vet centers around the country, or you can reach the Veteran’s Crisis Line 24/7. 

VA rating for depression

Regardless of your exact type of depression, the depression VA rating will be either 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, or 70% under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. The rating criteria is as follows:

Description	VA Rating	Monthly payment (veteran only)
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%	$3,938.58
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%	$1,808.45
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%	$1,132.90
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%	$552.47
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%	$180.42
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%	None

The VA Rating Formula for Mental Disorders and Disabilities Like PTSD, Depression, and More

Service connecting depression

Mental health disorders commonly affect veterans, especially those who experience trauma, see combat, or deploy during their service. Studies have found between 14% and 16% of U.S. veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan experience PTSD or depression. 

There are countless reasons your depression could be linked to your service. Many veterans grapple with mental health problems after losing friends, seeing combat, or being injured or attacked while serving in the military. 

Additionally, veterans may experience depression on a secondary basis because of another condition related to their service. 

“Secondary service connection is where you had a really bad back injury in service, and because of the way that changed your life and your ability to provide for your family, the things you normally like to do, you experience a downturn in your mental health,” explained VA disability lawyer Zack Evans. 

“You get depressed over your physical ailment, and as a result of that, your mental health condition can be connected on a secondary basis.”

Even veterans who experienced mild forms of depression that were worsened by their service can be eligible for VA disability.

Regardless of the type of service connection, you’ll want to submit thorough evidence supporting your claim. Evidence should show how your condition affects your daily life and ability to work as well as how your depression is service connected. A nexus letter from a medical professional is a key part of this.

Depression and related conditions

As mentioned above, a veteran’s depression may be related to another service-connected condition. Additionally, another service-connected condition may cause depression.

In both cases, the veteran is owed VA disability benefits for both the depression and the other health condition.

Some of the many health conditions that may be linked to depression include:

• Chronic pain. Being in constant pain can create or exacerbate mental health issues. Research links chronic pain to depression, with the existence of both disorders causing the symptoms of each to worsen. 
• Other chronic illnesses. People with chronic illnesses are at an increased risk of depression. People may struggle coping with dramatic changes to their body, ability levels, and overall lives, causing mental health problems to arise or worsen. Likewise, people with depression may be more likely to develop chronic illnesses including diabetes, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s.
• Migraines. Migraines may lead to depression. The reason is not yet fully understood but may be related to hormones, genetics, brain abnormalities, and stress. Having depression can also increase an individual’s risk of developing migraines.
• Cancer. More than 10% of cancer patients are diagnosed with depression. Like other serious illnesses, cancer alters a person’s life in countless ways, and this can cause extreme mental and emotional distress.
• TBI. Depression is one of many possible long-term effects after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This may be related to the way TBIs cause an inflammatory response in the brain. 

C&P exam for depression

Compensation and pension exams, also called C&P exams or VA claim exams, assess your level of disability and if it is related to your time in service.

Depression C&P exams may look a bit different than those done for physical ailments. What should you expect? “Typically at a C&P exam, you’ll show up to the location of the exam and you’ll have a battery of questions that an examiner will ask you about your condition,” explained Zack Evans.

“If it’s a psychiatric examination, they’ll ask you a little bit about your personal history. They’ll ask you about your current symptoms. They’ll ask you about some of the challenges you face in your daily life, and how your depression impacts you on a daily basis.

“Some of these exams are more thorough than others, but typically what I see in my practice is issues that arise with the thoroughness of exams tend to come up more often in mental health exams. It’s really tough to cover the full breadth of someone’s mental health disability in the course of a relatively short examination period.” 

It may be difficult to be open about your mental struggles, but it’s important to be honest and thorough with your examiner. Doing so will help you get a more appropriate VA rating for depression.

The depression DBQ

The VA provides a disability benefits questionnaire (DBQ) which covers most mental health disorders, including depression. The DBQ can be downloaded through the VA’s website here.

The depression DBQ includes space to list not only depression, but any other mental health diagnosis aside from PTSD or eating disorders, which have separate forms.

The form also includes multiple sections for your health care provider to document your symptoms and how they affect your day-to-day life, relationships, and ability to work.

If you have more than one mental health condition, your doctor will need to explain whether your symptoms can be differentiated. For example, if you have both depression and bipolar disorder, and experience sleep disturbances, is it possible to identify which disorder is causing them?

Having your care provider fill out a depression DBQ can help ensure the VA has all of the information they need to determine the severity of your disability.

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TDIU for depression

In some cases, a veteran may be awarded total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) for depression. TDIU is also known as individual unemployability or simply IU. Veterans are eligible for these benefits if they can’t hold down “substantially gainful” employment due to their service-connected conditions.

Veterans with depression may struggle to work for many reasons, including struggling just to get up and make it into the workplace each day. Additionally, issues with sleep, mood regulation, irritability, and concentration could make working even more difficult, if not impossible.

Veterans who receive TDIU benefits are compensated at the same level as those with a 100% disability rating, even though their combined rating is below 100%.

Veterans will typically be eligible for TDIU if they have:

• At least one service-connected disability rated at 60% or more disabling OR
• Two or more service-connected disabilities with at least one rated at 40% or more disabling and a combined rating of 70% or more

In other cases, they may be eligible for extraschedular TDIU.

How Woods & Woods can help

Our TDIU lawyers have helped thousands of veterans nationwide who can no longer work because of their service-connected conditions. Call us today for your free, confidential TDIU case evaluation. You won’t pay us unless we win your claim.

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