Acquired psychiatric disorder

"Acquired psychiatric disorder" is not one single illness. It is an umbrella term for mental health conditions a person develops (rather than is born with), and the VA rates these together as "mental disorders." The VA's list of recognized conditions in this group runs from diagnostic code 9201 through 9440, and it includes things like generalized anxiety disorder (9400), PTSD (9411), panic disorder (9412), bipolar disorder (9432), persistent depressive disorder/dysthymia (9433), major depressive disorder (9434), and chronic adjustment disorder (9440). The VA requires that the diagnosis follow the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5; if a claimed diagnosis does not match the DSM-5 or is not supported by the exam findings, the rating office sends the report back to the examiner to fix it.

Because this is a category and not a single code, there is no one diagnostic code for "acquired psychiatric disorder." Whatever the exact diagnosis, the VA uses the same General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders (codes 9201–9440), which assigns 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, or 100 percent. What drives the percentage is how much the condition causes occupational and social impairment (trouble working and getting along with others), not just the name of the diagnosis. For example, 100 percent reflects total occupational and social impairment; 70 percent reflects deficiencies in most areas such as work, family, judgment, and mood; 50 percent reflects reduced reliability and productivity; and 30 percent reflects an occasional decrease in work efficiency. The VA is supposed to look at the frequency, severity, and duration of symptoms across all the evidence, not only how a veteran appeared at a single exam.

To be service-connected, the evidence generally has to show the condition began (or was made worse) during service, or is otherwise linked to service. The VA says service connection means the facts show the disease or injury was incurred during military service, or if it existed before, was aggravated by service, and the agency is directed to weigh all the medical and lay evidence under a broad and liberal reading of the law. Most psychiatric conditions are established this way (a direct link to service) rather than through an automatic "presumptive" exposure pathway, so a current diagnosis, an in-service event, and a medical link tying the two together are typically central. If one diagnosis is later changed to another (for example, an anxiety diagnosis changed to a depressive one), the VA has rules for handling that change rather than simply starting over.

A denial is a starting point, not the end — veterans have appeal options, and a claim can be refiled or supported with more evidence. This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work, not legal advice and not a VA decision about any individual claim.