Getting started guide
Personal statement tips.
Helpful guidance for sharing your history and firsthand experience with the provider reviewing your records.
Why it matters
Your own observations can be evidence.
Medical records are essential, but they may not capture everything you personally experienced. Your statement can give the reviewing provider context about relevant service events, symptom onset, frequency and severity, treatment, medications, and functional impairment.
Federal regulations recognize competent lay evidence. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(a)(2), a person may provide evidence about facts or circumstances they personally know and can observe and describe. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a) also recognizes pertinent medical and lay evidence when evaluating service connection.
Your statement does not need to sound medical or legal. It is usually more useful written in your own words, focused on what you personally experienced or observed.
What to include
Service context
What happened during service that you believe may be relevant — events, injuries, exposures, duties, locations, or circumstances.
Symptom onset and timeline
When you first noticed symptoms and how they changed or progressed over time.
Frequency and severity
How often symptoms occur, how severe they are, and how long episodes or flare-ups last.
Treatment and medications
VA or civilian care, therapy, procedures, surgery, devices, and relevant current or past medications, supplements, or other treatments.
Functional impact
How the condition affects sleep, mobility, work, concentration, driving, household tasks, hobbies, and relationships.
Submit with it
What to send along with your statement.
The more complete the file, the more the reviewing provider can say.
- DD Form 214
- Current overall VA disability rating
- Current service-connected conditions and individual ratings
- Military / service treatment records
- VA medical records or Blue Button report, if applicable
- Relevant civilian medical records
- VA decision letters, including prior denials
- Current and relevant past medications, prescription and over-the-counter
- Buddy or lay statements, if available
- Personal statement — strongly recommended
Find out which of your conditions a medical opinion can support.
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