What can I claim secondary to adjustment disorder?
2 conditions in the Repatriation Medical Authority's Statements of Principles list adjustment disorder as a factor. If DVA has accepted your adjustment disorder, each of these has a documented pathway to a further claim.
At a glance
- Accepted conditionAdjustment disorder
- Conditions it may open2
- SourceRMA SoPs
- Chart Review$600 + GST
How a secondary claim works
Some Statement of Principles factors are not about service at all — they name another condition. Where DVA has already accepted your adjustment disorder, and another condition's SoP lists adjustment disorder as a factor, that part of the next claim is already established on your file. How a secondary claim works, in full →
Conditions that list adjustment disorder as a factor
Quoted from the instrument. A pathway existing is not the same as a claim succeeding — each factor carries thresholds your record has to satisfy.
Cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
RH No. 45 of 2024 · BoP No. 46 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (46): “having clinically significant adjustment disorder within the 1 year before clinical onset” [clinical onset]
This factor appears in the Reasonable Hypothesis instrument only, which applies to operational service.
Note: clinically significant is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.
Ischaemic heart disease
RH No. 27 of 2025 · BoP No. 28 of 2025
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (27): “having one of following clinically significant disorders of mental health for at least the 5 years before clinical onset or clinical worsening; (a) adjustment disorder; (b) agoraphobia; (c) anxiety disorder; (d) depressive disorder; (e) panic disorder; (f) posttraumatic stress disorder; (g) schizophrenia; or (h) social anxiety disorder” [onset and worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (19): “having one of following clinically significant disorders of mental health for at least the 5 years before clinical onset or clinical worsening; (a) adjustment disorder; (b) agoraphobia; (c) anxiety disorder; (d) depressive disorder; (e) panic disorder; (f) posttraumatic stress disorder; (g) schizophrenia; or (h) social anxiety disorder” [onset and worsening]
Note: clinically significant disorder of mental health is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.
Other accepted conditions that also open cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
If any of these is also on your file, it reaches some of the same conditions adjustment disorder does.
What DVA means by adjustment disorder
A claim is tested against the definition first. If the diagnosis on your file does not meet this wording, the factors below never get reached — so it is worth checking that what your doctor wrote matches what the instrument requires.
Adjustment disorder, for the purposes of the Statement of Principles, for the purposes of this Statement of Principles, adjustment disorder means a disorder of mental health meeting the following diagnostic criteria (derived from DSM-5): (a) The development of emotional or behavioural symptoms in response to an identifiable stressor (s) occurring within three months of the onset of the stressor (s) . (b) These symptoms or behaviours are clinically significant, as evidenced by one or both of the following: (i) Marked distress that is out of proportion to the severity or intensity of the stressor, taking into account the external context and the cultural factors that might influence symptom severity and presentation; or Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (ii) Significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. (c) The stress-related disturbance does not meet the criteria for another mental disorder and is not merely an exacerbation of a preexisting mental disorder. (d) The symptoms do not represent normal bereavement. (e) Once the stressor or its consequences have terminated, the symptoms do not persist for more than an additional six months.
Aggravation-only factors. In this instrument, subsections 9(12) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, adjustment disorder where it was already present before or during service. If service caused adjustment disorder outright, those factors are not available to you.
RH No. 23 of 2016 · BoP No. 24 of 2016 · 11 factors
Reviewed by Dr Thomas Perkins
Founding doctor, Veterans Health Centre · former RAAF aviation medical officer · 13 years working exclusively with ADF members and veterans. Full profile →
Adjustment disorder accepted?
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