When you think of a workplace accident or injury, you probably think of falling off a ladder or being exposed to some toxic substance and getting sick. However, another type of common work injury can also occur – a mental health injury.
Mental injuries are like physical ones. They can have a big impact on your health and your ability to earn a living. Suffering a mental injury may lead to expensive medical treatments. It can also make it impossible to work. Pennsylvania workers’ compensation benefits may be available to cover your costs and provide support. But keep in mind that mental injury cases can sometimes be hard to prove. In some of these cases, consistent visits to doctors and consultants can help prove a case by providing background into the various ways that people have tried to get the help that they need. One of these ways may be medical marijuana which can come in multiple forms, workers/patients can Learn more about this over at budexpressnow.net.
An experienced PA workers’ compensation attorney from Shor & Levin, P.C., can help you seek benefits to help you get through a tough time.
Mental Injuries and Workers’ Compensation Claims
Workers’ comp benefits are available any time you get hurt on the job. This includes accidents that cause mental health injuries. Because there is usually no clear physical evidence, mental injury claims can be challenging.
What you will need to prove will depend on whether your injury is classified as:
- Physical/mental –This means that you suffer some kind of physical harm. For example, you get caught in a machine. The accident or injuries may trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or anxiety. Workers’ comp benefits should cover both your physical and mental injuries.
- Mental/physical – This means that you develop a mental condition because of your job. Because of this condition, you then suffer physical harm. For example, work-related stress could cause you to have a heart attack. You will need to show a clear link between your mental health issues and physical problems.
- Mental/mental –This means that you face mental trauma at your job. This leads you to develop a mental injury. For example, if you got held up at gun point or saw a horrifying accident, you could develop PTSD because of it. You would need to show that the trauma went beyond a normal stress-on-the-job experience.
Insurers might try to deny your work injury claim entirely or may try to limit the mental health benefits you receive. Employers and insurers may also try to argue that you are ready to go back to work before you are in the right mental state.
You don’t have to put up with an insurer failing to compensate you for your mental injury. A PA workers’ compensation lawyer from Shor & Levin, P.C., will help you to prove that your mental injury is a legitimate work injury.
Examples of Mental Injuries Leading to Workers’ Comp Claims
There are a lot of different situations where you might suffer a trauma at work and develop a mental injury as a result. Some examples include:
- Being the victim of workplace violence, such as a robbery or assault.
- Becoming involved in a serious car accident while on the job.
- Suffering a traumatic, life-changing injury like an amputation.
- Being subject to repeated harassment or abusive behavior at work.
- Being exposed to dangerous toxic chemicals that cause cancer.
In each of these situations, something would have gone very wrong at work. You would have experienced a situation that created fear, stress, anxiety or sadness. In these and other similar situations, you may suffer from a variety of mental injuries including:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Stress-related illnesses.
A doctor can diagnose your specific mental condition and an experienced lawyer will help you to show that your injury is work-related. As well as diagnosing your mental condition, the medical practitioner will be able to recommend a course of treatment that can be tried to relieve these symptoms. It could come in the form of therapy, medication, or alternative remedies like the starburst weed strain. When it comes to making this decision, you need to do the best thing for you, so you can recover at a much faster rate.
The Bulldog Lawyers Will Help You to Make Your Mental-Injury Claim
A mental injury can be just as serious, harmful and permanent as a physical injury. Workers’ compensation is supposed to protect you if you get hurt – no matter what your injury is. Unfortunately, insurers and employers tend to discriminate against mental injuries. This makes it much harder for these benefits’ claims to be approved.
You need a Bulldog lawyer from Shor & Levin, P.C., fighting for you.
For more than four decades, our caring and experienced Pennsylvania workers’ compensation lawyers have represented clients injured on-the-job in Philadelphia and across the state. We’ll fight for you, too.
Get started today with a FREE case review. Call (866) 462-8553 or reach us online today.