VA BENEFITS REFERENCE
Mental Disorders: Shared Criteria For DC 9520 Through 9521
Read mental disorders criteria for DC 9520 through 9521: 2 listed codes, their distinct instructions, shared formulas and official notes.
Published criteria from 38 CFR 4.130, current through 2026-10-22. Historical decisions may require a different version. This reference does not diagnose a condition or determine an evaluation.
Mental Disorders · All Diagnostic Codes
DC 9520: Anorexia Nervosa
Diagnostic code 9520 addresses Anorexia nervosa. Read its specific instructions together with any shared formula, notes and linked provisions. These criteria describe evaluation after the applicable entitlement requirements are met; this reference does not diagnose a condition or determine a claim.
9520 Anorexia nervosa
Read the shared provisions referenced by this code: Rating Formula for Eating Disorders.
What The Criteria Measure
- Does the decision identify diagnostic code 9520, and does the medical record describe the condition named by this code?
- Do dated records describe the frequency and duration specified by this particular provision, using its definitions?
- Do records identify the treatment, procedure and relevant dates that the provision actually distinguishes?
- Have the code-specific notes and cross-references been read before comparing any listed evaluation?
Related Public DBQs
Editorial subject matches, not official VA code-to-form assignments. Read the form scope and clinician instructions.
Regulatory Cross-References
- DC 9201: Schizophrenia
- DC 9208: Delusional disorder
- DC 9210: Other specified and unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders
- DC 9211: Schizoaffective disorder
- DC 9300: Delirium
- DC 9301: Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to HIV or other infections
- DC 9304: Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to traumatic brain injury
- DC 9305: Major or mild vascular neurocognitive disorder
- DC 9310: Unspecified neurocognitive disorder
- DC 9312: Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer's disease
- DC 9326: Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to another medical condition or substance/medication-induced major or mild neurocognitive disorder
- DC 9400: Generalized anxiety disorder
- DC 9403: Specific phobia; social anxiety disorder (social phobia)
- DC 9404: Obsessive compulsive disorder
- DC 9410: Other specified anxiety disorder
- DC 9411: Posttraumatic stress disorder
- DC 9412: Panic disorder and/or agoraphobia
- DC 9413: Unspecified anxiety disorder
- DC 9416: Dissociative amnesia; dissociative identity disorder
- DC 9417: Depersonalization/Derealization disorder
- DC 9421: Somatic symptom disorder
- DC 9422: Other specified somatic symptom and related disorder
- DC 9423: Unspecified somatic symptom and related disorder
- DC 9424: Conversion disorder (functional neurological symptom disorder)
- DC 9425: Illness anxiety disorder
- DC 9431: Cyclothymic disorder
- DC 9432: Bipolar disorder
- DC 9433: Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)
- DC 9434: Major depressive disorder
- DC 9435: Unspecified depressive disorder
- DC 9440: Chronic adjustment disorder
- DC 9521: Bulimia nervosa
DC 9521: Bulimia Nervosa
Diagnostic code 9521 addresses Bulimia nervosa. Read its specific instructions together with any shared formula, notes and linked provisions. These criteria describe evaluation after the applicable entitlement requirements are met; this reference does not diagnose a condition or determine a claim.
9521 Bulimia nervosa
Read the shared provisions referenced by this code: Rating Formula for Eating Disorders.
What The Criteria Measure
- Does the decision identify diagnostic code 9521, and does the medical record describe the condition named by this code?
- Do dated records describe the frequency and duration specified by this particular provision, using its definitions?
- Do records identify the treatment, procedure and relevant dates that the provision actually distinguishes?
- Have the code-specific notes and cross-references been read before comparing any listed evaluation?
Related Public DBQs
Editorial subject matches, not official VA code-to-form assignments. Read the form scope and clinician instructions.
Regulatory Cross-References
- DC 9201: Schizophrenia
- DC 9208: Delusional disorder
- DC 9210: Other specified and unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders
- DC 9211: Schizoaffective disorder
- DC 9300: Delirium
- DC 9301: Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to HIV or other infections
- DC 9304: Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to traumatic brain injury
- DC 9305: Major or mild vascular neurocognitive disorder
- DC 9310: Unspecified neurocognitive disorder
- DC 9312: Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer's disease
- DC 9326: Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to another medical condition or substance/medication-induced major or mild neurocognitive disorder
- DC 9400: Generalized anxiety disorder
- DC 9403: Specific phobia; social anxiety disorder (social phobia)
- DC 9404: Obsessive compulsive disorder
- DC 9410: Other specified anxiety disorder
- DC 9411: Posttraumatic stress disorder
- DC 9412: Panic disorder and/or agoraphobia
- DC 9413: Unspecified anxiety disorder
- DC 9416: Dissociative amnesia; dissociative identity disorder
- DC 9417: Depersonalization/Derealization disorder
- DC 9421: Somatic symptom disorder
- DC 9422: Other specified somatic symptom and related disorder
- DC 9423: Unspecified somatic symptom and related disorder
- DC 9424: Conversion disorder (functional neurological symptom disorder)
- DC 9425: Illness anxiety disorder
- DC 9431: Cyclothymic disorder
- DC 9432: Bipolar disorder
- DC 9433: Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)
- DC 9434: Major depressive disorder
- DC 9435: Unspecified depressive disorder
- DC 9440: Chronic adjustment disorder
- DC 9520: Anorexia nervosa
Rating Formula For Eating Disorders
Referenced by DC 9520, DC 9521. Apply only as each code directs, including its conditions and exceptions.
| Rating | |
|---|---|
| Self-induced weight loss to less than 80 percent of expected minimum weight, with incapacitating episodes of at least six weeks total duration per year, and requiring hospitalization more than twice a year for parenteral nutrition or tube feeding. | 100 |
| Self-induced weight loss to less than 85 percent of expected minimum weight with incapacitating episodes of six or more weeks total duration per year. | 60 |
| Self-induced weight loss to less than 85 percent of expected minimum weight with incapacitating episodes of more than two but less than six weeks total duration per year. | 30 |
| Binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting or other measures to prevent weight gain, or resistance to weight gain even when below expected minimum weight, with diagnosis of an eating disorder and incapacitating episodes of up to two weeks total duration per year. | 10 |
| Binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting or other measures to prevent weight gain, or resistance to weight gain even when below expected minimum weight, with diagnosis of an eating disorder but without incapacitating episodes. | 0 |
| Note 1: An incapacitating episode is a period during which bed rest and treatment by a physician are required. | |
| Note 2: Ratings under diagnostic codes 9201 to 9440 will be evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. Ratings under diagnostic codes 9520 and 9521 will be evaluated using the General Rating Formula for Eating Disorders. | |
Shared Rules And Regulatory Context
- 38 CFR 4.130 Context And Notes
- 38 CFR 4.125 Context And Notes
- 38 CFR 4.126 Context And Notes
- 38 CFR 4.127 Context And Notes
- 38 CFR 4.128 Context And Notes
- 38 CFR 4.129 Context And Notes
Context provisions do not create an additional evaluation automatically assigned to every condition.
Related Guides
Official Sources
Last verified 2026-10-25. Source publication or legal effective dates are shown separately where available.
- www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-4/section-4.130
- www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-4/section-4.125
- www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-4/section-4.126
- www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-4/section-4.127
- www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-4/section-4.128
- www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-4/section-4.129
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