Erectile Dysfunction Secondary to Depression VA Rating

Depression is common among veterans. Unfortunately, sometimes depression can lead to other medical conditions like erectile dysfunction. If you have service-connected depression that caused erectile dysfunction, you may be owed compensation. This post explains VA disability for erectile dysfunction secondary to depression.

Erectile dysfunction and depression in veterans

Erectile dysfunction (ED), or the consistent inability to get or maintain an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse, affects about 1 in 10 men at some point in their lifetime. Veterans may be prone to the condition because of the physical and psychological stress of military service. Specifically, mental health concerns like PTSD, anxiety, and depression are often associated with ED. The medications typically prescribed to treat these conditions can also contribute to or worsen ED.

Depression is also a common mental health condition among veterans. Veterans are vulnerable to depression because of the nature of military service and exposure to distressing events. Studies have found that 14-16% of U.S. veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have experienced PTSD or depression. 

Can ED cause depression?

Depression is a contributing factor to erectile dysfunction, but the relationship between the two conditions can work in the other direction, too. For at least some men, ED can trigger depression. One study found that men with ED are nearly three times more likely to experience depressive symptoms than men without it. This is thought to be due to the psychological toll of sexual dysfunction.

VA disability for erectile dysfunction secondary to depression

You can receive VA disability benefits for depression that was caused or worsened by military service. You can also receive VA disability benefits for ED caused by depression through a secondary service connection.

A veteran can receive a secondary service-connected disability rating for a health condition that is medically related to a condition that’s service connected. Medical evidence must link the primary and secondary service-connected impairments, or the secondary impairment must link to another service-connected health concern.  

This means if you already have a service connection for depression, you can receive a secondary service connection for ED if you can prove the two conditions are medically linked.

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VA rating for depression

The VA rates depression using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders in the Schedule of Ratings. Mental health disorders can be rated at 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, or 100%, depending on severity and frequency of symptoms. 

Description	VA Rating	Monthly payment (vet only)
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.	100%	$3,938.58
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.	70%	$1,808.45
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.	50%	$1,132.90
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).	30%	$552.47
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.	10%	$180.42
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.	0%	None

VA rating for erectile dysfunction

The VA rates erectile dysfunction using diagnostic code 7522 in the Schedule of Ratings for the genitourinary system. It will typically be assigned a rating of 0%. 

It’s important to understand that even a 0% rating can be beneficial. Being granted a 0% rating means the VA recognizes your ED was caused by your military service. Therefore, you could be eligible for Special Monthly Compensation (SMC), which is meant to make accommodations for disabilities that are more severe than the Schedule of Ratings reasonably accounts for. In other words, SMC requires the VA to consider other ways your condition may significantly impact your life.

There are various types of SMC, but ED could qualify you for SMC-K. The VA awards SMC-K to veterans who meet the basic eligibility criteria for special monthly compensation. 

Possible qualifiers for SMC-K include:

• Loss or loss of use of one or more creative organs
• Loss of one hand
• Loss of one foot
• Blindness in one eye

How Woods & Woods can help

Our TDIU lawyers have helped thousands of veterans nationwide who can no longer work because of their service-connected conditions. Call us today for your free, confidential TDIU case evaluation. You won’t pay us unless we win your claim.

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