What happens during a C&P exam for Specific Phobia?

Do NOT stretch, warm up, or take pain medication before your exam. The VA needs your baseline limitation. Report your WORST day. DeLuca v. Brown requires documentation of functional loss during flare-ups.

← All Condition Guides

CLAIM RECON INTEL

Specific Phobia

Q: What are the VA rating percentages for Specific Phobia?

Specific Phobia (DC 9403) is rated at 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 100% under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403. 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.

Q: What rates 0% for Specific Phobia under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403?

Under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403 (DC 9403), a 0% rating for Specific Phobia requires: 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.

Q: What rates 10% for Specific Phobia under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403?

Under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403 (DC 9403), a 10% rating for Specific Phobia requires: 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.

Q: What rates 30% for Specific Phobia under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403?

Under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403 (DC 9403), a 30% rating for Specific Phobia requires: 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).

Q: What rates 50% for Specific Phobia under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403?

Under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403 (DC 9403), a 50% rating for Specific Phobia requires: 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.

Q: What rates 70% for Specific Phobia under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403?

Under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403 (DC 9403), a 70% rating for Specific Phobia requires: 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.

Q: What rates 100% for Specific Phobia under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403?

Under 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403 (DC 9403), a 100% rating for Specific Phobia requires: 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.

Q: What evidence do I need for a Specific Phobia VA claim?

Key evidence for a Specific Phobia claim includes: Service treatment records showing injury or complaints; Imaging (X-ray, MRI, CT); Range of motion measurements; Flare-up documentation per Sharp v. Shulkin; Buddy statements describing limitations. All evidence should document both the condition and its impact on daily functioning.

DC 940338 C.F.R. § 4.130

Diagnostic Code

DC 9403

38 C.F.R. § 4.130

Rating Range

0–100%

6 severity tiers

Source

Verified

38 C.F.R. § 4.130

Specific Phobia is rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under DC 9403 of 38 CFR § 4.130, DC 9403 across 6 severity tiers (0% / 10% / 30% / 50% / 70%…). Service connection requires (1) a current diagnosis, (2) an in-service event, injury, or exposure, and (3) a medical nexus opinion linking the two under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.

Educational tool only. Not legal or medical advice. Not affiliated with the VA.

Overview

Specific Phobia is a DSM-5 anxiety disorder marked by intense, persistent, and unreasonable fear of a particular object or situation (for example flying, heights, enclosed spaces, blood, injections, or animals) that almost always provokes immediate anxiety and is actively avoided or endured with severe distress. The fear is out of proportion to the actual danger, lasts six months or more, and produces clinically significant impairment in occupational or social functioning. VA rates it under 38 CFR 4.130, the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, with the percentage driven by overall occupational and social impairment rather than by the phobic trigger itself.

Rating Criteria

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.

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.

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).

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.

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 worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.

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.

03Key Evidence

—Service treatment records showing injury or complaints

—Imaging (X-ray, MRI, CT)

—Range of motion measurements

—Flare-up documentation per Sharp v. Shulkin

—Buddy statements describing limitations

—Prescription history

—Physical therapy records

—Employment impact documentation

04C&P Exam Tips

1Do NOT stretch, warm up, or take pain medication before your exam. The VA needs your baseline limitation.

2Report your WORST day. DeLuca v. Brown requires documentation of functional loss during flare-ups.

3Tell the examiner about flare-ups: frequency, duration, estimated ROM loss. Sharp v. Shulkin (2017) requires estimates.

4Request active, passive, weight-bearing, and non-weight-bearing ROM testing per Correia v. McDonald (2016).

5If you use assistive devices (brace, cane), bring them.

6Describe daily activity impact: work, sleep, household tasks.

Tools

Rating Calculator →Secondaries Explorer →C&P Exam Prep →PACT Act Scanner →2026 Rates →

Sources & Editorial

Rating criteria text quoted verbatim from 38 C.F.R. § 4.130 (Mental disorders). Source verified 2026-05-15 by ClaimRecon Editorial Team against the Cornell Law CFR mirror; eCFR.gov is the authoritative government source.

View § 4.130 on eCFR →Cornell Law mirror →Editorial Standards →Suggest a correction →

EDUCATIONAL TOOL ONLY. NOT LEGAL OR MEDICAL ADVICE.
NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
CLAIM RECON 2026

LOADING