Claim Raven explanation
What this means
This rule applies when an in-service mental disorder caused by a highly stressful event is severe enough to bring about release from active service. It provides an initial minimum evaluation and a follow-up examination.
It is a specific postdischarge rule, not a general minimum rating for everyone diagnosed with PTSD. The reason for release and the timing and findings of the later examination matter.
How this helps your claim
This helps you check a rating following a service-related mental-health separation. Read the separation records together with the initial VA decision and follow-up evaluation.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Find the medical and personnel records explaining the release from service.
- Confirm the connection between the stressful event, disorder, and separation.
- Review the initial evaluation and examination scheduled after discharge.
Connect the release from service with the disorder
The rule concerns a mental disorder caused by a highly stressful in-service event that was severe enough to bring about release from active service. Separation findings and medical-board records can therefore be relevant alongside the diagnosis.
Keep the postdischarge examination requirement distinct from the initial minimum evaluation. The follow-up assessment addresses the later disability picture under the applicable rules. A qualifying initial award should not be interpreted as a guarantee that the same evaluation continues permanently regardless of later findings.
Does every PTSD diagnosis carry this minimum evaluation?
No. This is a specific rule involving the reason for release from active service and the described circumstances. PTSD diagnosed in a different setting must be considered under the applicable service-connection and rating provisions. The diagnosis name alone does not establish this special postdischarge framework.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 4.129
eCFR snapshot: September 3, 2026. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 4.129 Mental disorders due to traumatic stress.
When a mental disorder that develops in service as a result of a highly stressful event is severe enough to bring about the veteran's release from active military service, the rating agency shall assign an evaluation of not less than 50 percent and schedule an examination within the six month period following the veteran's discharge to determine whether a change in evaluation is warranted.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1155)
[61 FR 52700, Oct. 8, 1996]
Related references
- 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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