Military PTSD Requirements Relaxed

Week of November 03, 2008

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its adjudication regulations regarding service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The amendment will eliminate the requirement of evidence that corroborates the occurrence of in-service stressor in which PTSD is diagnosed in the service. This is necessary to facilitate the proof of service connection in such claims. By this amendment, the VA intends to reduce claim-processing time for such claims. This interim final rule is effective Oct. 29, 2008. Going forward -- in the absence of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and provided that the claimed stressor is consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of the veteran's service -- the veteran's lay testimony alone may establish the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor. The VA believes that this change will contribute to faster processing of PTSD claims by eliminating the need for VA to develop evidence of occurrence of the in-service stressor in claims in which the veteran's PTSD was diagnosed during service.

More information and resources on PTSD.