Impact of Anxiety on Employment

When your service-connected anxiety disorder like PTSD, social anxiety, panic disorder, or general anxiety disorder (GAD) impacts your day-to-day life and ability to work, you may be eligible for VA disability benefits. So long as you have a current diagnosis of an anxiety disorder, it is linked to a qualifying service-connected injury, illness, or event, and you have an expert medical opinion linking your condition to your service, you are entitled to VA disability benefits. 

Discussing your claim with the VA disability lawyers from our VA benefits law firm can help support your anxiety VA rating and the amount of benefits you receive. 

Anxiety Disorders and Employment 

As explained by the National Institute of Health (NIH), the symptoms of social anxiety disorder can interfere with daily activities, including:

• job performance 
• social interactions
• Education 

When your ability to perform daily activities, especially working, is impaired by the service connected anxiety, your VA rating should increase, to include a total disability rating if the service connected condition impairs one’s ability to maintain a gainful occupation.

Difficulty Concentrating and Completing Tasks 

General anxiety disorder (GAD) can impact your ability to concentrate, lead to you being easily fatigued, and can result in irritability, symptoms that negatively impact both social interactions and workplace performance. Panic disorders can cause attacks that make a veteran unable to work at all, while worries about attacks can impede work and personal relationships. 

Problems Performing Under Pressure and with Decision-Making 

Anxiety disorders like panic disorder and GAD can make performing under pressure difficult. When a veteran has a high-stress job, this can make them unreliable on the job, and impact their earnings ability. Collecting statements from persons who are directly familiar with how your anxiety impacts your work, like bosses or coworkers, can provide valuable evidence in support of your anxiety VA rating. 

Social Interaction Difficulties and Anxiety Disorders 

Persons with anxiety disorders like PTSD or social anxiety disorder may avoid social interactions. This can be due to a fear of flashbacks or uncontrollable emotional episodes as with PTSD, or an aversion to general social interactions as with social anxiety disorder. Persons suffering from panic disorder and related attacks also avoid social interactions so as to prevent experiencing symptoms in front of others. 

When your quality of life is reduced, and you are unable to engage in regular social interactions, you may require assistance and be unable to work. The purpose of your anxiety VA rating is to determine the percentage your anxiety is rated at and the amount of tax-free compensation you receive. 

Discuss Your VA Disability Eligibility for Anxiety with a VA Disability Attorney

To learn how a VA disability attorney can help you, call toll-free at 888-915-3843 or visit our site to schedule a free case evaluation. We’ll explain how our fees work and how we only get paid if we win when we help on your appeal.