Mental disorders
VA rating for bipolar disorder, diagnostic code 9432
A condition defined clinically by episodes is rated here on a formula with no episodic language in it. Bipolar disorder carries diagnostic code 9432 and reads from the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, which governs 31 of the 33 codes in 38 CFR 4.130 and sets six levels of impairment.
Published 2026-08-21. Last updated 2026-08-24. Written and reviewed under Veteran Health Network's institutional review process.
What each level requires
bipolar disorder is rated under diagnostic code 9432, at 38 CFR 4.130.
The criteria below are not written for this condition on its own. They come from the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, which governs every code in this group. The diagnosis decides which formula applies. The formula decides what each level requires.
100 percent requires
In plain English
Work life and social life are both totally impaired. The regulation gives examples rather than a checklist: thought or communication grossly impaired, persistent delusions or hallucinations, grossly inappropriate behavior, persistent danger of hurting self or others, an intermittent inability to carry out daily activities including basic hygiene, disorientation to time or place, or memory loss extending to the names of close relatives, one's own occupation, or one's own name.
As written in 38 CFR 4.130
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 percent requires
In plain English
Impairment reaching into most areas of life, which the regulation names as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking and mood. The examples listed include suicidal ideation, obsessional rituals that interfere with routine activity, speech that is intermittently illogical or irrelevant, near-continuous panic or depression, impaired impulse control, spatial disorientation, neglect of appearance and hygiene, difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances including a work setting, and an inability to establish and keep effective relationships.
As written in 38 CFR 4.130
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 percent requires
In plain English
Reliability and productivity are reduced at work and socially. The listed examples are flattened affect, circumstantial or stereotyped speech, panic attacks more than once a week, difficulty understanding complex commands, impaired short and long term memory, impaired judgment, impaired abstract thinking, disturbed motivation and mood, and difficulty establishing and keeping effective work and social relationships.
As written in 38 CFR 4.130
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 percent requires
In plain English
Work efficiency drops occasionally and there are intermittent periods of being unable to perform occupational tasks, while functioning is generally satisfactory the rest of the time. The examples given are depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks weekly or less often, chronic sleep impairment, and mild memory loss such as forgetting names, directions or recent events.
As written in 38 CFR 4.130
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 percent requires
In plain English
Symptoms are mild or transient and reduce work efficiency only during periods of significant stress, or the symptoms are controlled by continuous medication. Continuous medication on its own reaches this level.
As written in 38 CFR 4.130
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 percent requires
In plain English
A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but the symptoms are not severe enough to interfere with work and social functioning and not severe enough to require continuous medication. This is a rating of zero percent, which is a decision rather than a refusal: the condition is recognized as service connected and pays nothing.
As written in 38 CFR 4.130
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.
Regulation text reproduced from 38 CFR 4.130, read on 2026-08-21. Read the section at the eCFR. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the date above is the date this text was checked and not the date it was written.
An episodic condition on a formula that does not count episodes
Derived from the regulation
The General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders describes states rather than events. Each of its six levels opens with a statement about occupational and social impairment and then lists example symptoms.
Nothing in the six levels refers to mood episodes, their frequency, their duration or the interval between them. That is not an omission specific to bipolar disorder; the formula is shared by 31 diagnostic codes and is written to be diagnosis-neutral.
Where a condition varies over time, 38 CFR 4.1 and 4.2 direct that the disability picture be considered as a whole and over its history rather than at a single moment. Those are general policy sections in the same part, not part of the formula itself.
The examples that come closest
Derived from the regulation
Two example symptoms in the formula are the nearest it comes to the language of this condition. At 70 percent the list includes "impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence)". At 100 percent it includes "persistent delusions or hallucinations".
Both appear after the phrase "due to such symptoms as", which makes them illustrations of the impairment statement rather than requirements. The level is set by the impairment described at the head of each criterion.
So a symptom appearing in the 70 percent list does not by itself place a record at 70 percent, and a record without any of the listed symptoms is not thereby excluded. That is how the formula is written, and it is the same for all 31 codes that use it.
When this code was added
Derived from the regulation
Bipolar disorder took its present code when the mental disorders schedule was reorganized in the 1990s.
Appendix A to Part 4 records the amendment history for code 9432 in one line: "Added November 7, 1996."
The Federal Register line beneath 4.130 covers the section rather than this code: 79 FR 45100, Aug. 4, 2014. Read 2026-08-21.
See every level beside the regulation it comes from
The rating threshold cheatsheet shows all of the levels for bipolar disorder in one view, plain English on the left and the regulation itself on the right, in a layout built to print.
It is free and it never says which level anyone meets. It describes what each one requires and leaves the reading to the person whose record it is.
Sources
- 38 CFR 4.130, Schedule of ratings, mental disorders (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
- 38 CFR 4.1, Essentials of evaluative rating (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
- Appendix A to Part 4, Table of Amendments and Effective Dates Since 1946 (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
Accuracy owner Brayden Marley. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the retrieval date above is what this page is accurate as of.