Mental disorders
VA rating for depression, diagnostic code 9434
Major depressive disorder is diagnostic code 9434. Its criteria come from the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders in 38 CFR 4.130, a table shared by 31 of the 33 codes in that section. Evaluations are 0, 10, 30, 50, 70 and 100 percent, and each of the six describes a degree 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
depression is rated under diagnostic code 9434, which the schedule calls "Major depressive disorder", 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.
The clause at 10 percent that carries its own route
Derived from the regulation
The 10 percent criterion reads "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.". The sentence has two halves joined by "or", and the second half stands alone.
The first half describes mild or transient symptoms that reduce work efficiency only under significant stress. The second half says: or symptoms controlled by continuous medication. Control is the condition described, not failure of control.
Read against the 0 percent criterion the contrast is exact. Zero percent describes a diagnosed condition whose symptoms are neither interfering with functioning nor requiring continuous medication. Continuous medication is the hinge between the two, and it is stated in both.
What any given record shows is a question this page does not answer and cannot.
Depression, anxiety and the one formula
Derived from the regulation
Diagnostic code 9434 sits in a block of five mood codes: 9431 for cyclothymic disorder, 9432 for bipolar disorder, 9433 for persistent depressive disorder, 9434 for major depressive disorder and 9435 for unspecified depressive disorder. All five are rated from the same formula.
So are the anxiety codes at 9400 through 9413, the psychotic codes at 9201 through 9211, and the neurocognitive codes at 9300 through 9326. Thirty-one codes, one table.
Where a person has been diagnosed with both depression and anxiety, the question of how that is rated is a question about 38 CFR 4.14 and the bar on rating one disability twice, rather than a question about which set of criteria applies. There is only one set.
The section this code sits in has moved
Derived from the regulation
The mental disorders schedule was renumbered in the 1990s, which is why older material cites a section that no longer exists.
Appendix A to Part 4 records the amendment history for code 9434 in one line: "Added November 7, 1996."
Alongside it sits the section's Federal Register history, which moves whenever any code in the section moves: 79 FR 45100, Aug. 4, 2014. Both records were read on 2026-08-21 against the edition current at 2026-08-01.
See every level beside the regulation it comes from
The rating threshold cheatsheet shows all of the levels for depression 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 4.14, Avoidance of pyramiding (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.