PTSD claims: service connection, forms and where to start

Three questions every PTSD claim answers

Where each question is answered on this site

1. Does VA connect it to your service? The rule is 38 CFR 3.304(f). The next section shows its five routes.
2. How is it rated? Under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders in 38 CFR 4.130, at 0, 10, 30, 50, 70 or 100 percent. See 50%, 70%, 100% mental health ratings explained for the levels, and mental health rating changes: what is proposed for the 2022 proposal that is not final.
3. What else can follow from it? See mental health conditions and what gets rated with them.

Proving the stressor: the routes in 38 CFR 3.304(f)

38 CFR 3.304(f), summarized; read the regulation for the exact text

In every case the rule requires medical evidence of the diagnosis, a link between your current symptoms and the in-service stressor shown by medical evidence, and credible supporting evidence that the stressor happened. The regulation then names situations where your own statement can establish the stressor:

• Diagnosed in service (3.304(f)(1)): PTSD diagnosed during service and the stressor related to that service. Your lay testimony alone may establish the stressor, if nothing clear and convincing is against it and it fits the circumstances of your service.
• Combat (3.304(f)(2)): the stressor is related to combat with the enemy, the same conditions apply.
• Fear of hostile military or terrorist activity (3.304(f)(3)): a VA psychiatrist or psychologist, or one VA has contracted with, must confirm that the stressor is adequate for a PTSD diagnosis and that your symptoms are related to it.
• Prisoner of war (3.304(f)(4)): the stressor is related to the POW experience, the same conditions apply.
• Personal assault, including military sexual trauma (3.304(f)(5)): see the women veterans page.

No sick call record?

Related page

Not going to sick call does not by itself end a PTSD claim. See No sick call record? You can still file.

VA Form 21-0781

VA's form page, last updated September 23, 2026

• VA Form 21-0781 is titled "Statement in Support of Claimed Mental Health Disorder(s) Due to an In-Service Traumatic Event(s)." VA lists the form revision date as March 2024.
• VA describes it as optional. VA lists cases where it applies, such as filing a claim online without answering the mental health questions, filing with a downloaded PDF claim form, or receiving a letter asking for it.
• VA’s form page lists 21-0781 only. A VA notice in the Federal Register (December 12, 2023) says the revision merges the two earlier forms into 21-0781 and discontinues 21-0781a. The notice gives no effective date.

What the exam looks like

VA Mental Disorders DBQ, dated 2025-10-14

• VA publishes a blank PTSD Review questionnaire (VA form dated 2025-10-03). It is based on DSM-5 criteria and covers the diagnostic summary, occupational and social impairment, the PTSD diagnostic criteria A through H, symptoms, behavioral observations and competency. I did not find a separate public questionnaire for an initial PTSD claim, and VA’s form does not say how “review” differs from an initial exam.
• VA’s Mental Disorders exam questionnaire says it covers mental disorders other than PTSD and eating disorders.
• See Preparing for your C&P exam for how the exam works.

If you need help today

VA Veterans Crisis Line

• Veterans Crisis Line: 988, then select 1. VA lists it as open 24/7.
• VA care and the plain steps to start it: getting mental health support. Emergency care: free emergency suicide crisis care.
• More VA numbers: VA phone numbers: hotlines and hours.

What I could not verify

• I summarized 38 CFR 3.304(f) from the eCFR text current as of October 16, 2026. eCFR is unofficial, and the official text wins over me.
• I did not research PTSD-specific presumptions.