California workers like you deserve healthy, safe workplace environments. You expect them. This is why workplace accidents come as such a nasty shock. Not only can they take you by surprise, but they can make life difficult for you in the aftermath.
Some parts of an accident may have a stronger effect on you. For example, you may develop mental health conditions due to physical injuries. This can change your ability to work.
PTSD as a trauma response
Mayo Clinic takes a look at post traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD. PTSD often affects workers involved in workplace accidents. It is a trauma response and can develop after any sort of traumatic incident. Often, workplace accidents fall into this category.
Suffering from PTSD after a workplace accident puts you into a precarious position. First, you must recover from the physical injury. This often takes months or even years for severe injuries. At the same time, you must work on recovering from PTSD. This process takes years. In some cases, sufferers live their whole lives with PTSD.
How PTSD affects you
Unfortunately, PTSD affects the way you work. This disorder involves flashbacks, panic attacks, hallucinations and mood swings. It is often crippling to the sufferer. Sometimes, being in your work environment is enough to trigger your PTSD. What do you do when you can no longer do your job because you cannot tolerate your workplace? It puts workers into a tricky situation.
Because of the cost of therapy and uncertain future, workers’ compensation is crucial. It is important to understand how to pursue it for the physical and mental harm you may suffer through.
