Claim Raven explanation
What this means
This rule generally excludes intellectual disability and personality disorders as diseases or injuries for compensation, subject to the provisions it identifies. The specific medical diagnosis is important to the analysis.
The text also recognizes that disability from a mental disorder superimposed on one of these conditions may be service connected. That is a distinct medical and legal question, not an assumption that the original label ends every possible claim.
How this helps your claim
This helps you identify which condition VA actually evaluated and whether the record distinguishes an additional mental disorder. A clinician should explain the diagnoses and their relationship.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Locate the exact diagnosis and the reason given for it.
- Look for medical findings describing a separate or superimposed mental disorder.
- Check whether the decision addressed the distinction shown in the records.
Separate the excluded diagnosis from an additional disorder
The regulation distinguishes the identified intellectual or personality conditions from disability due to a superimposed mental disorder. A record should explain whether an additional disorder exists and how it relates to the clinical history. The distinction cannot be established merely by changing terminology.
Keep the actual diagnoses and the clinician's reasoning visible. A denial based on one classification should be read for whether it addressed a separately identified disorder in the evidence. That does not establish entitlement automatically; it identifies the particular medical and legal question requiring analysis.
Does a personality-disorder label end every mental-health claim question?
Not necessarily. The section expressly recognizes a distinct question concerning a superimposed mental disorder. That possibility needs supporting medical evidence and the applicable service-connection requirements. It should not be assumed from symptoms alone or used to replace an established diagnosis without clinical support.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 4.127
eCFR snapshot: September 3, 2026. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 4.127 Intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) and personality disorders.
Intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) and personality disorders are not diseases or injuries for compensation purposes, and, except as provided in § 3.310(a) of this chapter, disability resulting from them may not be service-connected. However, disability resulting from a mental disorder that is superimposed upon intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or a personality disorder may be service-connected.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1155)
[79 FR 45100, Aug. 4, 2014]
Related references
- 38 CFR § 3.310: Secondary service connection explained
- 38 USC § 1155: The law behind VA disability rating percentages
- 38 CFR § 4.1: What a VA disability rating measures
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
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