VA Compensation for Schizophrenia – Everything You Need To Know
Are you a veteran who has received a diagnosis of schizophrenia? You may be eligible to receive disability benefits. Unfortunately, getting benefits is difficult, and denials are common. A VA disability advocate can help you appeal a denial of your benefits appeal.
VA disability advocates can offer a free case evaluation, and they can work on a no-win-no-fee basis, which means they may only get paid when you do.* For a free consultation, call (888) 373-4722.
Military Service and Schizophrenia
Military service is an honorable career, but it is not without its drawbacks. Serving in combat situations can lead to lasting trauma. Even if you never serve in battle, military life is not easy. Training missions are designed to simulate combat and can thus trigger similar stress and trauma. Just because you were not in combat does not mean you cannot qualify to receive VA disability for schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia has several possible causes, including your environment. When you experience trauma, changes in your brain chemistry can take place leading to mental illnesses, including schizophrenia. If you experienced this trauma or if your mental health symptoms began while serving in the military, you may be eligible for VA disability.
For a free case evaluation, call (888) 373-4722 today.
A VA Disability Advocate Can Help You Create a Successful VA Disability Appeal for Schizophrenia
Know that for your VA disability appeal for schizophrenia to be successful, it needs to demonstrate three things. First, you have a valid diagnosis of schizophrenia. Second, you experienced an event during your military service (or that your symptoms began while you were serving). Third, a medical nexus exists between your in-service evidence and your diagnosis.
Your Diagnosis
The first thing you must show is that you have a diagnosis.
A VA disability advocate reviews your medical records and assembles evidence that makes it clear you have a diagnosis.
In-Service Event or Onset
You must have experienced a traumatic event during service (such as a stressful training exercise or an attack during combat) or that your mental health symptoms began during service.
Nexus Between Service and Schizophrenia
Your case must also establish a medical nexus between your military service and your diagnosis.
To get started today with a free case evaluation, call (888) 373-4722.
An Advocate Wants to Help You Recover the Most in VA Disability Benefits
To get approved for benefits but also receive the highest amount for which you are eligible, an advocate can help you put together a strong appeal that results in the highest possible VA disability rating.
For a diagnosis of schizophrenia, VA will assign you one of the following disability ratings: 10, 30, 50, 70 or 100%. The higher the rating you receive, the more you will be eligible to collect in disability compensation.
Here are the monthly compensation rates for each rating for a single veteran with no dependents:
- 10% disability rating: $142.29 per month
- 30% disability rating: $435.69 per month
- 50% disability rating: $893.43 per month
- 70% disability rating: $1,426.17 per month
- 100% disability rating: $3,106.04 per month
Below are the Code of Federal Regulations mental health criteria used by the VA to determine which of these ratings you qualify for:
- 100% rating: “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% rating: “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 work-like setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.”
- 50% rating: “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% rating: “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% rating: “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.”
To make sure you receive the highest disability rating you can, a VA disability advocate may put a lot of resources into making your appeal as strong as possible. They may collect substantial evidence and assemble it to be clear and compelling. For a free case evaluation, call (888) 373-4722.
VA Disability Advocates Can Work on a No-Win-No-Fee Basis
If you have hesitated to contact an advocate regarding your VA disability appeal because of the potential cost, you should find VA disability help anyway.
For your free case evaluation, call (888) 373-4722.
To Learn More About How a VA Disability Advocate Can Help You, Call (888) 373-4722
VA disability advocates are eager to help you recover the benefits you deserve. For a free consultation, call (888) 373-4722.
