38 CFR Part 4 — 38 CFR § 4.130

Chronic adjustment disorder — VA Diagnostic Code 9440

Mental health

Diagnostic code

9440

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38 CFR § 4.130 lists Diagnostic Code 9440 as “Chronic adjustment disorder.” The schedule says ratings under diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440 are evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. DC 9440 does not print its own percentages. VA’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Benefits Report lists “Chronic adjustment disorder” with 209,870 among mental disabilities of all compensation recipients. The report is on [benefits.va.gov](https://www.benefits.va.gov/REPORTS/abr/docs/2024-abr.pdf).

Reviewed 2026-10-03. Text checked against eCFR on 2026-10-05; Title 38 last amended 2026-08-27. On that date the titles list showed Title 38 up to date as of 2026-10-01 (latest issue date 2026-08-27).

The rating criteria at each level

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders — diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440, including DC 9440

Rating %: 100

Criteria (verbatim). Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought processes or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name.

Rating %: 70

Criteria (verbatim). Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.

Rating %: 50

Criteria (verbatim). Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.

Rating %: 30

Criteria (verbatim). Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events).

Rating %: 10

Criteria (verbatim). Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.

Rating %: 0

Criteria (verbatim). A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication.

Rating %	Criteria (verbatim)
100	Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought processes or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name.
70	Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.
50	Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.
30	Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events).
10	Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.
0	A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication.

The formula uses the words “such symptoms as” and “such as.” Those words are part of the printed lines.

Note from § 4.130: Ratings under diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440 will be evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. Ratings under diagnostic codes 9520 and 9521 will be evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Eating Disorders.

The opening of § 4.130 says the nomenclature is based on the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). 38 CFR § 4.125(a) says that if the diagnosis of a mental disorder does not conform to DSM-5 or is not supported by the findings on the examination report, the rating agency shall return the report to the examiner to substantiate the diagnosis.

38 CFR § 4.126(a) says the rating agency shall consider the frequency, severity, and duration of psychiatric symptoms, the length of remissions, and the veteran’s capacity for adjustment during periods of remission. The evaluation is based on all the evidence of record that bears on occupational and social impairment rather than solely on the examiner’s assessment of the level of disability at the moment of the examination. Paragraph (b) says the rating agency shall not assign an evaluation solely on the basis of social impairment.

Source: 38 CFR § 4.130 (Schedule of ratings—Mental disorders), Diagnostic Code 9440 and the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, eCFR full-text XML for 2026-08-27. Prevalence count: VBA Annual Benefits Report, Fiscal Year 2024.

What the words mean in your records

Occupational and social impairment

Every compensable line of the general formula is built on occupational and social impairment, at a stated level. Section 4.126(b) says not to assign an evaluation solely on the basis of social impairment.

Such symptoms as

The 100, 70, 50, and 30 percent lines use “due to such symptoms as” followed by a list. This page quotes the lists. It does not add symptoms that are not printed.

Continuous medication

The 10 percent line includes symptoms controlled by continuous medication. The 0 percent line is a formal diagnosis whose symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication.

Evidence that speaks to each level

100 and 70

What the rater needs to see. Total occupational and social impairment, or occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, due to such symptoms as the symptoms printed in that line.

Where that usually lives. The mental-disorder examination and the treatment record. Section 4.126 looks at frequency, severity, and duration, remissions, and capacity for adjustment during remissions, across the whole record.

50 and 30

What the rater needs to see. Reduced reliability and productivity, or occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks, due to such symptoms as the symptoms printed in that line.

Where that usually lives. The same record. The 30 percent line also says generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal.

10 and 0

What the rater needs to see. The 10 percent line is mild or transient symptoms that decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication. The 0 percent line is a formal diagnosis that does not meet either part of that sentence.

Where that usually lives. The diagnosis and the medication and occupational history. Section 4.125 returns a report that does not conform to DSM-5 or is not supported by the examination findings.

Level	What the rater needs to see	Where that usually lives
100 and 70	Total occupational and social impairment, or occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, due to such symptoms as the symptoms printed in that line.	The mental-disorder examination and the treatment record. Section 4.126 looks at frequency, severity, and duration, remissions, and capacity for adjustment during remissions, across the whole record.
50 and 30	Reduced reliability and productivity, or occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks, due to such symptoms as the symptoms printed in that line.	The same record. The 30 percent line also says generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal.
10 and 0	The 10 percent line is mild or transient symptoms that decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication. The 0 percent line is a formal diagnosis that does not meet either part of that sentence.	The diagnosis and the medication and occupational history. Section 4.125 returns a report that does not conform to DSM-5 or is not supported by the examination findings.

VA’s public DBQ list, checked October 3, 2026, names “Mental Disorders” under Psychological. “Initial Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)” is on the list of DBQs not available for public use. “PTSD Review” is public. Chronic adjustment disorder is DC 9440, not DC 9411.

The exam form

Section 4.126 is the evaluation rule: frequency, severity, and duration; remissions; all the evidence that bears on occupational and social impairment; and no evaluation based solely on social impairment.

This site’s mental-health DBQ pages for other codes are the depression DBQ guide, the anxiety DBQ guide, and the PTSD DBQ guide. The index is DBQ guides.

Related codes and how they interact

Other codes that use the same formula

The § 4.130 note says ratings under diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440 use this formula. DC 9411 is posttraumatic stress disorder. The public page is the PTSD guide. DC 9434 is major depressive disorder. The public page is the depression guide. DC 9400 is generalized anxiety disorder. The public page is the anxiety guide.

38 CFR § 4.14 says the evaluation of the same disability under various diagnoses is to be avoided. 38 CFR § 4.126(d) says that when a single disability has been diagnosed both as a physical condition and as a mental disorder, the rating agency shall evaluate it using a diagnostic code which represents the dominant aspect of the condition.

Secondary conditions and presumptions

The chronic-disease list in 38 CFR § 3.309(a) includes “Psychoses.” The text of § 3.309, read from the 2026-08-27 full-text XML, does not contain the words “adjustment disorder.” 38 CFR § 3.310(d) names depression, on its own time and severity rules, as a condition held to be the proximate result of service-connected traumatic brain injury in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary. It does not name chronic adjustment disorder. Any other secondary question is a medical question on the facts under § 3.310(a) and (b).

Short answers

What is the VA rating for chronic adjustment disorder?

Under 38 CFR § 4.130, Diagnostic Code 9440 uses the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. The printed levels are 100, 70, 50, 30, 10, and 0 percent. Section 4.126 rates from the whole record of occupational and social impairment, not from social impairment alone. Education only. VA decides on the evidence.

What diagnosis standard does the schedule use?

Section 4.130 says the nomenclature is based on DSM-5. Section 4.125(a) says a diagnosis that does not conform to DSM-5, or is not supported by the examination report, is returned to the examiner to substantiate the diagnosis.

FAQ

How does VA rate chronic adjustment disorder under DC 9440?

38 CFR § 4.130 evaluates diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440, including 9440, under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. The lines are 100, 70, 50, 30, 10, and 0 percent, based on occupational and social impairment. Education only.

Does the formula require every symptom in a line?

The lines say “due to such symptoms as” and then list symptoms. This page quotes that language. It does not add a counting rule that the regulation does not print.

Is chronic adjustment disorder the same code as PTSD?

No. PTSD is DC 9411. Major depressive disorder is DC 9434. Generalized anxiety disorder is DC 9400. Those codes use the same general formula. They are not DC 9440.

Where does the 209,870 figure come from?

The Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Benefits Report lists “Chronic adjustment disorder” with 209,870 among mental disabilities of all compensation recipients. That count is not a rating.

Next steps

Read the decision for DC 9440 and the occupational and social findings the formula uses.
The free worksheet is a place to write the code, the measurements, and the records you already have. It does not file a claim or protect a filing date. C&P prep (Founding Pass) is a separate worksheet. An accredited representative is at find a VSO.
Other mental-disorder codes are on the mental-health diagnostic-code index. The category page is mental health conditions.

Education only. Not legal or medical advice. My Claim Packet is not a VA-accredited representative and does not file claims. VA decides every claim on its own evidence.

Other codes in this body system

Nearby catalog entries in Mental health, ordered by diagnostic code number. All Mental health codes

Also: DC code lookup (tools) lists the same index in a compact layout.

Source: 38 CFR Part 4, Diagnostic Code 9440 • va.gov

⚠️ Important Disclaimer

This page provides general educational information based on public VA regulations and VA.gov resources. It is not legal or medical advice, and My Claim Packet is not a VA-accredited representative. Any worksheets or draft documents produced by the tools must be reviewed for accuracy and are not filed with VA for you. Ratings and service connection are decided case-by-case from the individual record. Consult a VA-accredited VSO, claims agent, attorney, or qualified clinician for help with your situation, and verify current rules using the linked official source.