Workers’ compensation coverage for injuries in the workplace is a crucial protection to workers in every job sector. However, not all injuries are as simple to cover properly as others, and mental injuries are often among the most difficult to address. Mental difficulties stemming from the workplace often draw skepticism and require some extra heavy lifting to secure fair compensation. However, it is certainly possible to do, making worthwhile to at least explore your options fully.
Generally speaking, mental injury claims fall into three categories
- A physical injury on the job lead to a mental disability
- Work-related stress lead to a physical injury or disability
- Work-related stress lead to a mental disability
If your claim falls into one of these categories, then you have a good place to start. You need to document your symptoms as thoroughly and carefully as you can, as well as assemble proof that the symptoms resulted from your job in some way. This may be a single event or an accumulation of experiences or stressors over a long period of time.
You should also consider your own obligations to remove yourself danger or report abusive behavior. This is not to embolden parties who might victim-shame or accuse you of some culpability in the matter, but to avoid giving anyone assessing your claims a reason to question the reliability of the claim itself. In order to increase your chances of obtaining full, complete compensation, you must build the strongest claim you can and conduct yourself in a way that does not weaken your position.
There is no need to face this task alone, especially in instances where an employee suffers from mental injuries. These struggles often involve deep feelings of isolation, which can make it even more difficult than it already is to know how to move forward and keep moving forward when the outcome is uncertain. A strong guiding hand can make all the difference in such a season of difficulty. An experienced attorney walks with you through the process, protecting your rights and dignity throughout through to the resolution.
Source: Findlaw, “Stress in the Workplace: The Availability of Workers’ Compensation Benefits,” accessed Oct. 27, 2017