The new rules for veterans trying to get VA disability benefits for PTSD will make it easier for non-combat veterans with PTSD to get their VA compensation benefits.  The new rules are similar to the rules for combat veterans who have badges that show they were involved in combat.  These new regulations will no longer require a veterans statement of his or her claimed stressor be corroborated by other evidence if the veteran "claimed trauma is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity and is consistent with the places, types, and circumstances of the veteran's service."  Under these new rules if a VA doctor confirms that the stressful experience expressed by the veteran adequately supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the veteran's symptoms are related to the claimed stressor then this will be enough for service connection for PTSD.  Under the old rules the VA was required to corroborate that a non-combat veteran actually experienced a stressor related to hostile military activity.  This was very time consuming and often times difficult if not impossible in many cases.  It was often difficult for a veteran to be able to supply enough details of the specific event (such as an IED explosion the veteran witnessed) for the VA to be able to corroborate the event.  The veteran had to submit a detailed account including date, place, names and so on.  Even if the the veteran was able to give enough details their claims were still often denied because the VA was unable to find records or other evidence of that one particular event in the thousands of such events that took place in the war zone.  Now if a veteran makes the same claim and he was in a war zone (which can be much easier checked by looking at personnel records, DD 214, and medical records) the same veteran's claimed stressor will be considered enough for service connection as long as a VA doctor confirms the veteran's stressor supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the symptoms are related to that stressor.  This is a quick post to make veterans aware of the new rules on disability for PTSD but for more details veterans should visit the VA website.