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VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 9400
Anxiety is treated by the VA as a mental health condition. The VA's rules for mental disorders use the names from the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5, so a doctor's diagnosis matters. To be "service-connected" (the step that makes a condition eligible for compensation), the VA generally looks at whether the facts show the condition started during service or was made worse by service. This can be shown directly, or in some cases through legal "presumptions" that make the link for you. The VA reviews the whole record, including medical records and your own and fellow service members' statements, and is directed to apply its rules in a broad and liberal way.
The most common diagnostic code for anxiety is 9400 (Generalized anxiety disorder). The VA also lists related codes such as 9403 (specific phobia/social anxiety disorder), 9410 (other specified anxiety disorder), 9412 (panic disorder and/or agoraphobia), and 9413 (unspecified anxiety disorder). All of these (codes 9201 to 9440) are scored using the same tool, the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. Ratings come in set steps of 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100%.
What drives a higher percentage is not the diagnosis name but how much the condition limits your work life and social life. For example, a 30% level describes symptoms like depressed mood, anxiety, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep trouble, and mild memory loss that cause occasional drops in work performance, while a 100% level describes total work and social impairment with severe symptoms. Importantly, the listed symptoms are only examples (the rule uses the words "such as"), not a strict checklist, so the VA weighs your overall picture of impairment.
For anxiety, the main "presumptive" pathway that can remove the burden of proving a direct link applies to former prisoners of war: under 38 CFR 3.309(c), "any of the anxiety states" are service-connected for a former POW if the condition shows up at 10% or more at any time after discharge. The major toxic-exposure presumptive lists (Agent Orange, burn pits/PACT Act, Camp Lejeune) are aimed mainly at physical illnesses and do not list anxiety itself, so most anxiety claims are still built through direct service connection or as secondary to another service-connected condition. This is educational information about how the VA's rules work in general; it is not legal advice or a VA decision, and a denial can be appealed.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 38,406 real Board appeals for Anxiety
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are historical outcomes, not a prediction of your case.
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Among the appeals that were granted or partly granted, the most common ways Anxiety was linked to service:
In appeals where Anxiety was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
These appeals involved a recognized exposure — which can mean the link to service is presumed, with no nexus to prove:
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia and alcohol use disorder caused his sleep apnea.
The Veteran's migraines and fibromyalgia are presumed to have been caused by exposure to fine, particulate matter in Southwest Asia. The bilateral knee condition is at least as likely as not related to service. The low back disability is also at least as likely as not related to service. The bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy is at least as likely as not related to the service-connected low back disability. The acquired psychiatric disability (anxiety) is at least as likely as not related to service.,The Veteran's traumatic brain injury and cervical spine disabilities are remanded due to a lack of a VA examination.
The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, and depressive disorder due to another medical condition, is granted as service-connected. The left shoulder and lower back conditions are remanded for further examination.
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service-connected, with a rating of 10 percent.,The Veteran's back disability remains at a 40 percent rating. The Board finds the evidence does not support an increase to higher ratings.,The Veteran's radiculopathy of the femoral nerve in both lower extremities are each granted initial 20 percent ratings.,Service connection for GAD, bilateral hearing loss, and chronic kidney pain is remanded.,A compensable disability rating (greater than 0 percent) for chronic kidney infections is also remanded.
The Veteran's service connection claims for lumbosacral strain, asthma, melasma and hydradenitis, hypertension, an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression, anxiety, and stress), left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, left knee disorder, a left foot disorder, and IBS have been granted. The remaining issues are remanded.
The Board has granted the claims for service connection for anxiety, depression, and an acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD), finding that new and relevant evidence supports these claims.
Jump to the decisions from a specific year.
New decisions are added every week, and older years are actively being backfilled — a year that looks thin or missing here (especially 2011–2017) is a gap in our library, not in the Board’s decisions.
Veterans appealing Anxiety often look at outcomes for these too:
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.