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Can my loved one get VA disability for psychosis or schizophrenia?

The short answer

Yes.

A psychosis can be service-connected. Schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder are in the list VA uses for that word. If the psychosis showed up within 1 year of discharge, VA can presume it is service-connected, but only when the service and severity rules below are met. VA can set that presumption aside if the evidence shows the psychosis was not connected to service. PTSD and depression can be claimed too. They are not in the psychosis list, so they do not get this one-year presumption. They need their own link to service.

Salleha Chaudhry
Last reviewed October 15, 2026

What you can do

  1. The presumption uses the dates of active service on the discharge paper, the DD-214. A free accredited VSO can help with this.
  2. The rule looks at when symptoms first showed up, compared with the discharge date. A free accredited VSO can help with this.
  3. The presumption in 38 CFR 3.307(a) and 3.309(a) needs all of this: 90 days or more of active, continuous service during a war period or after December 31, 1946, and a psychosis, as 38 CFR 3.384 defines it, that became manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within 1 year of separation. It does not require a record of the illness during service.
  4. 38 CFR 3.384 names brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, psychotic disorder due to another medical condition, other specified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder, schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, and substance or medication-induced psychotic disorder.
  5. Disability compensation uses VA Form 21-526EZ. PTSD has its own rules in 38 CFR 3.304(f). Depression is a direct service-connection claim under 38 CFR 3.303. A free accredited VSO can help with this.
  6. Guard or Reserve time counts only when it is the kind of active service the rule names. Do not assume that time does not count. A free accredited VSO can help with this.

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FAQs

Q: Does the one-year presumption include depression?

No. Depression is a direct service-connection claim under 38 CFR 3.303. PTSD has its own rules in 38 CFR 3.304(f). Neither one is in the psychosis list in 38 CFR 3.384, so neither one gets this one-year presumption.

Q: How much service does that one-year rule need?

The presumption in 38 CFR 3.307 and 3.309 needs 90 days or more of active, continuous service during a war period or after December 31, 1946. The psychosis, as 38 CFR 3.384 defines it, has to become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within 1 year of separation.