Va Rating For Depression Due To Chronic Pain

If you have service-connected chronic pain that you believe is the cause of your depression contact an experienced VA disability lawyer to help file your claim.

Va rating for depression due to chronic pain. So if you have a service-connected shoulder condition and suffer from chronic shoulder pain and that pain causes you to become seriously depressed you may be eligible for VA benefits for secondary depression because its occurred due to a shoulder condition that was proven to be service-connected. 0 10 30 50 70 and 100. Depression and Qualifying for Veterans Benefits. Chronic pain is a condition which directly affects someones mental health.

This is typically tied to the daily chronic pain and lifehealth limitations related to a disabled veterans current service-connected disabilities rated at 0 percent or higher. Sometimes the VA rating for depression can be higher than the rating for the original physical injury. Somatic Symptom Disorder SSD previously called Chronic Pain Syndrome means a veteran is having a considerable focus on hisher physical symptoms such as pain weakness limitations and shortness of breath. While there is no VA disability rating schedule for chronic pain disorder you can approximate the effects of all your service-connected disabilities through the secondary service-connected disability doctrine.

To receive VA disability benefits for chronic pain the symptoms resulting must be ratable. Depression caused by chronic pain can quickly render one incapable of maintaining a gainful occupation. In other words VA assigns ratings based on the functional impact from the service-connected condition. Under this procedure you can include claims for secondary disabling conditions that have a nexus to a primary disability.

How the VA Rates Chronic Pain Secondary Depression. Veterans can submit a claim for secondary depression using the Psychological Rating System Code 9434. This is because the VA does not have a specific diagnostic code for chronic pain. Even if youre formally diagnosed with depression by your healthcare provider the VA can still assign a 0 disability rating.

In some cases chronic pain is persistent for years of someones life. Through anxiety lack of sleep hopelessness and depression chronic pain can reveal. I have already received a rating for depressive disorder due to already service sc medical. The scientific link between depression and pain is clear.

The assigned VA disability rates for depression may be 0 10 30 50 70 or 100. VA Disability for Somatic Symptom Disorder. Ruling overturns nearly 20 years of VA rating decisions. A recent ruling by the US.

If a veteran is hospitalized for 21 days or more due to their depression they may be eligible to receive a temporary total rating of 100 percent. Its possible for a veteran to receive a 0 percent rating if she has symptoms of depression that dont impair her ability to function perform daily tasks or engage in social activities. If a veteran has depression as a result of a service-related chronic pain or illness then that depression case should also be connected to military service and treated as such. So veterans dont receive a VA disability rating for chronic pain specifically.

Chronic Pain can be linked to a number of different reasons including injury disease or damage to nerves. So in my case did they kind of jump over my chronic pain claim and just give me a rating for depressive disorder. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims may have a major effect on the outcome of many veterans disability claims. I notice on this topic chonic pain was primary and depressive disorder was secondary.

The worse the pain the worse the depression and the more depressed a person feels the more profound their experience of pain. For example oftentimes a veterans chronic pain will cause depression. For veterans that cannot work or function socially at all VA disability rates for depression will usually be 100. Similarly chronic pain may lead to depression about the pain.

VA does not have a specific diagnostic code or rating criteria for chronic pain.