How to Increase Your VA Rating for a Mental Health Condition

The good news is that you've cleared the most difficult hurdle: getting your condition service-connected.

If you've looked at the VA's symptom list for your current rating, and it doesn't seem accurate to the symptoms you're experiencing, you're not alone. Most initial ratings don't capture the full picture.

Here’s why:

1. ‍Military Culture Affects How You Report: You were trained to minimize problems and push through difficulty. This often leads to underreporting your symptoms' true severity during a C&P exam.‍
2. Examiners Can Miss Key Indicators: Many examiners don't account for how military experience shapes symptoms. They might miss secondary effects like relationship problems, work difficulties, or the coping mechanisms you've been forced to develop.‍
3. Functional Impairment Gets Overlooked: The VA rates based on how your symptoms affect your ability to work and function socially. If an examiner doesn't ask the right questions to understand the full scope of your daily struggles, your rating will be too low.

Now, the goal is to ensure your rating accurately reflects the true impact on your life.

How?

In this case, an Independent Medical Examination (IME) is the most effective tool for providing the evidence needed for an increase.

What makes my evaluations different is my ability to identify symptoms you might not recognize or that other examiners often miss. I understand both military culture and how mental health symptoms can be misinterpreted or downplayed.

1. Independent Medical Examination (IME) - We would go through the IME process to accurately assess your current symptoms and level of impairment, which you can then submit to the VA for a rating increase.