How to Win a VA Rating for PTSD Due to MST

Military Sexual Trauma and its psychological aftermath, particularly Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), often make difficult VA claims. This article will guide you through the process of getting a VA disability rating for MST (via PTSD or another mental health condition), helping you understand how to secure the benefits MST survivors rightfully deserve. 

Who Can Get MST-related VA Disability Benefits?

MST encompasses any sexual harassment or assault experienced during military service, profoundly affecting a veteran’s mental and physical health. To be assigned a PTSD rating for MST, there are generally three things that you must be able to prove:

1. You had an MST incident while in service 
2. You are currently diagnosed with a mental or physical disability 
3. Your disability was more likely than not (at least 50% probability) caused or worsened by the military sexual trauma you suffered in service 

The VA Standard of Proof for MST-Related PTSD Claims 

VA recognizes that MST is often not reported at the time it happens and applies a relaxed evidence standard specifically for PTSD claims based on personal assault, including military sexual trauma. 

You do not need “foolproof evidence” of the MST event. The goal is to show credible evidence that something happened and that your current condition is linked to it. 

For MST-related PTSD claims, VA can accept evidence from sources other than service records to help support that the MST stressor occurred (the “MST markers”). If you provide this evidence, the VA will take it into consideration. Find out more about MST markers. 

How the VA Evaluates MST

In the video below, attorney Allison Reddick interviews Dr. Vonetes, psychologist and C&P examiner, about military sexual trauma and how it is evaluated by the VA.

If you were denied a VA disability rating for MST, please request a free evaluation here. Our VA-accredited attorneys are highly experienced in winning cases for veterans like you and may be able to help.

Free case evaluation

What Is the VA Rating an MST Survivor Can Receive?

VA evaluates mental health conditions (including PTSD stemming from MST) based on the severity of social and occupational impairment. VA ratings for PTSD due to MST range from 0 to 100%, with higher percentages indicating more severe disability.

Rating	Rating Formula
100%	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%	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%	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%	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%	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%	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.

Veterans rated at 70% or higher may also qualify for Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU), which provides compensation at the 100% rate if the disability prevents maintaining regular work. 

Getting a VA Disability Rating for an MST Claim

Filing with the VA requires careful preparation and thorough documentation of the Military Sexual Trauma. Follow these steps to ensure that your claim is processed efficiently and effectively. 

Secure a Diagnosis

Since MST itself is not a diagnosis, you must obtain a formal diagnosis of PTSD, anxiety, depression, or any other mental health condition from a healthcare provider. A diagnosis from a psychologist or psychiatrist carries the most weight. 

Complete VA Form 21-526EZ

Fill out the VA Form 21-526EZ for disability compensation. Ensure all sections are completed correctly. If a section does not apply to you, mark it as “N/A” to avoid leaving any part blank, which could delay processing. 

Gather Evidence

Traditional evidence like service records and medical documentation might be lacking due to the nature of MST cases. Use alternative evidence by filling out VA Form 21-0781a to establish the occurrence of MST and its impact. 

Include any available records from military or civilian medical facilities, and personal accounts that document changes in your behavior or performance after the event. 

Obtain a Nexus Letter

Acquire a nexus letter from a healthcare provider stating it is “more likely than not” that your diagnosed condition is linked to the MST experienced during service. The nexus letter is often the single most important piece of evidence in an MST claim. 

Submit Your Claim

File as soon as possible to backdate potential compensation to the date of filing. You can submit additional evidence later as you gather it. 

Common Problems with MST Claims

Medical records from clinicians are some of the most important pieces of evidence for your disability claim. However, there are difficulties with MST claims that we see over and over again in our practice. 

Lack of a Formal PTSD Diagnosis

Many veterans are afraid to come forward and have never disclosed the trauma to anyone, let alone a medical provider. They may have been treated at the VA for years, carrying other mental health diagnoses, but have never been diagnosed with PTSD for MST. 

However, PTSD is not the only diagnosis that can result from military sexual trauma. Depression, anxiety disorders, and other mental disorders caused by MST are also ratable. 

In other cases, veterans who experienced MST were discharged for a personality disorder or are denied benefits because of this diagnosis. The solution is seeking to have their diagnosis changed from personality disorder to PTSD or a similarly ratable condition. 

No Objective Proof of the Event

Many veterans give up because they assume that they have no claim if they have no objective proof of the event. Because MST is often underreported, there is usually no foolproof evidence that the event took place. 

The good news is that this is not fatal to the claim. The VA has acknowledged the special difficulties associated with MST claims, and there is a separate VA regulation governing these types of claims. 

Case Example: Recovering Records to Prove an MST Claim

We handled a case for a veteran who had suffered from an event involving MST caused by the actions of a superior officer in the U.S. Army. At the time of the event, the veteran reported the incident to the Military Police at the base. But because it had been more than five years since the incident occurred, the records were no longer at the military base. 

Typically, the Military Police retain records for a period of five years at the base location. After that, the records are sent to the U.S. Army Crime Records Center archives in Quantico, Virginia. 

It was fairly easy to request the records from the Army’s Crime Records Center (CRC). The request must be sent along with a legible copy of the requester’s government-issued photo ID and can be mailed or faxed to the CRC. 

If your request is in support of a VA claim, you will get a more rapid response if you contact your VA representative (or attorney) and have their office fax your request to 571-305-4155 (CRC Records Division). 

In this instance, we requested copies of an incident providing the veteran’s name, SSN, date of birth, contact information, an approximate date of the incident, and a brief description of what occurred. 

We did not have the exact date or even month of the incident but only used an approximation. The veteran was very pleased to receive the results in about three weeks, and the report clearly supported his story of what had occurred. 

Turning a VA Denial into an Approval

Many MST claims are initially denied due to lack of evidence. If the claim is approved, the percentage of disability that is granted is often underrated compared to the severity of the impact of the trauma on the veteran’s life. 

If your VA claim is denied or you have been underrated, we encourage you to appeal the decision and submit new evidence to get the health services and compensation you deserve. An experienced PTSD lawyer can identify the right legal strategy and evidence needed to succeed. 

How Hill and Ponton Won an MST Appeal

In the Board of Veterans Appeals case Nr. 1010552, attorney Matthew Hill represented a female veteran who served on active duty from March 1977 to January 1978. She claimed service connection for PTSD based on an in-service sexual assault by a superior. 

The Challenge

This case was exceptionally difficult. The veteran had not reported the assault to police or sought medical treatment at the time it occurred. Her service treatment records and personnel records contained no documentation of the incident. 

The VA Regional Office in St. Petersburg, Florida denied the claim in October 2004. The Board of Veterans’ Appeals then denied the claim twice, in January 2008 and November 2008. 

The Strategy

After the case was remanded to the Board, our team gathered critical new evidence to support the veteran’s claim. This evidence included: 

• Lay statements from the veteran’s husband, brother, and sister-in-law describing significant behavioral changes they observed after her military service 
• Her husband’s statement that they were childhood sweethearts, but after the claimed incident she withdrew, became cold, and was no longer interested in intimate contact 
• Her brother’s statement that the veteran was a completely different person after service and would not discuss what happened to her 
• Her sister-in-law’s statement that the veteran’s deceased brother had told her the veteran was raped by her sergeant while in service 
• A private psychiatric evaluation from a board-certified psychiatrist, who diagnosed PTSD and directly linked it to the claimed in-service sexual assault

The Outcome

Despite inconsistencies in some of the veteran’s statements and the lack of contemporaneous service records documenting the assault, the Board applied the benefit-of-the-doubt rule and granted service connection for PTSD.

The benefit-of-the-doubt rule (38 USC 5107) requires the VA to rule in the veteran’s favor when the evidence is evenly balanced. In this case, the psychiatrist’s medical opinion confirmed the lay statements from family members and successfully linked the PTSD diagnosis to the rape claimed by the veteran.

Seeking Help and Representation

Obtaining a VA rating for PTSD due to MST is often complicated and emotionally taxing. Legal representation from a VA-accredited attorney can help speed up the process and increase the probability of winning. 

At Hill & Ponton, we specialize in assisting disabled veterans who were previously denied or underrated. We prioritize the most vulnerable and charge nothing upfront. Contact us for a free evaluation of your MST claim or any related VA disability claims.