Depression and Workers’ Comp

Depression can exacerbate health problems, produce prolonged absences, and worsen employers’ headaches over medical costs is hard to ignore. So it’s easy to see why employers are starting to recognize the negative influence depression has in the workplace.

In workers’ compensation cases, depression that is the result of a work injury may be compensable. Generally, in order to qualify for worker’s compensation, an employee could suffer from depression in addition to a work-related physical injury. However, it can be difficult to determine whether the depression stems from the injury or from other preexisting conditions and causes outside the workplace.

For example, a worker who suffers an amputation as a result of a workplace injury, subsequently faces multiple surgeries and infections, and then develops psychological problems in the form of a major depression as a result of all those complications, could be entitled to compensation under worker’s compensation.  In this example, the mental illness is caused by the workplace accident — the resulting depression, in other words, arose from and occurred in the course of employment.

It is common for injured employees to become depressed because of restrictions from their injury and the inability to get back to work. It is also common that a worker’s compensation insurer will be held responsible for appropriate psychiatric treatment in these types of cases.

Depression stemming from a physical injury can be compensable, but because psychological conditions are by their nature subjective, their compensability is appropriately subjected to scrutiny. Many injured and disabled workers also will develop depression, creating an unfortunate consequence that can prolong recovery and lead to additional health problems.

The stress and financial burdens of being out of work combined with physical pain and the loss of identity that many out-of-work people injured people experience quite often lead to associated depression. It is important for anyone who is suffering from depression to seek treatment as soon as possible, especially those who have an injury or disability that prevents them from working. Studies have linked pain with depression, and there’s substantial evidence that depression can slow recovery from an injury or illness.

The impact of a workers’ compensation case can be significant and life changing for both the injured workers and their loved ones. In addition to the physical injuries, the workers may develop ongoing emotional scars long after the workplace accident happened, emphasizing the need for proper treatment. It is important to reveal these emotional details to your attorney when discussing your options within worker’s compensation.