Is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Covered by Workers’ Comp?

While workers’ compensation normally provides financial benefits to employees who suffer physical injuries like broken bones or torn ligaments, an employee may wonder whether they can receive workers’ compensation benefits for a work-related mental health condition, such as PTSD. Keep reading to learn about your options for seeking benefits.

What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, refers to a mental health condition that results from witnessing or being involved in a traumatic event, such as an assault, a natural disaster, or a serious accident. PTSD can trigger a wide range of emotional, mental, behavioral, and physical symptoms that interfere with a person’s ability to function.

When Is PTSD Covered by Workers’ Compensation?

For workers’ compensation to cover PTSD, a worker who believes they have PTSD must have a psychologist or psychiatrist formally diagnose their condition according to the criteria for PTSD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

PTSD may be covered as a purely mental injury, where the affected employee did not suffer any physical injury but instead witnessed the triggering traumatic event, or it may be covered as a mental injury that resulted from a physical injury suffered at work.

Common Workplace PTSD Claims

Claims of suffering PTSD on the job commonly occur in industries and professions where workers frequently experience traumatic incidents. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, and hospital workers are particularly susceptible to developing PTSD.

PTSD claims can also arise when employees witness a coworker suffer a serious or gruesome injury or death. Examples of industries where such catastrophic accidents occur include construction, manufacturing, and warehousing, and fishing. However, PTSD can arise in virtually any line of work.

Common Symptoms of PTSD

PTSD can lead a person to experience symptoms such as:

• Flashbacks of the traumatic event, with memories of the event recurring to the point of being intrusive in daily life
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Anger and irritability 
• Being easily startled or jumpy
• Emotional detachment
• Violent or self-destructive behavior
• Memory or concentration problems
• Obsessive-compulsive behavior
• Nightmares

Severe symptoms of PTSD can impair a person’s personal, social, and work life.

PTSD and How It Can Happen at Work

Because PTSD can occur when a person is exposed to actual or threatened injury, sexual violence, or death, PTSD can result from various work-related causes, such as:

• A first responder coming upon a particularly gruesome or violent accident or crime (Oregon law allows police officers, firefighters, and EMTs to recover for PTSD suffered on the job.)
• Witnessing or being a victim of a shooting in the workplace.
• Being sexually assaulted at work.
• Witnessing a coworker being maimed or killed in a workplace accident.

Workers’ Comp Benefits for PTSD

Workers’ compensation can provide an employee with benefits to help them treat and recover from PTSD. These benefits may include:

• Costs of treatment, including mental health therapy or prescriptions for antidepressants or antianxiety medication
• Temporary disability benefits, if an employee has to take time off from work to process and recover from a traumatic event on the job
• Permanent disability benefits, if symptoms of PTSD are so severe as to completely impair an employee’s ability to function in the workplace

How a Workers’ Comp Lawyer Can Help

If you have PTSD because of your work, a workers’ compensation attorney can help by:

• Reviewing evidence to build a case to prove that a traumatic event at work caused your PTSD
• Ensuring you get the medical treatment you need, including collaborating with your treating providers when they have diagnosed you with PTSD
• Helping you file your workers’ comp claim with your employer
• Assisting you with pursuing an appeal or a formal claim if your employer or its insurer denies your claim for benefits for your PTSD

Hurt on the job in Oregon? Contact the professional attorneys at Jodie Anne Phillips Polich, P.C. today for a free consultation to discuss your rights and options for pursuing workers’ compensation benefits for PTSD caused by your job.