Can I File a Workers’ Comp Depression Claim?

The vast majority of workers’ compensation cases deal with physical injuries. Broken bones, muscle strains, and respiratory damages are easily identifiable workplace injuries that are easily granted compensation for by insurance companies, but what about mental afflictions? Depression is more common of a disorder than one might think and may actually be able to be a part of your workers’ compensation claim.

The key factor that decides if depression can be included in a workers’ comp claim is whether or not it was brought on by the original workplace injury. Depression that begins as a result of feeling down about your job or hopeless of a promotion does not warrant a workers’ comp claim, but being depressed due to the inability to work caused by a more definable incident would be. The difficult part of including this in a workers’ comp claim is proving that it was indeed caused by the workplace injury and was not pre-existing. Moreover, this must be proven in order for it to be valid in the claim.

Secondly, in order to claim depression on a workers’ comp claim, you must have sought treatment for it. The main purpose of workers’ compensation is to cover medical expenses and therefore there must be expenses to cover, whether it is medication or counseling therapy. This is useful anyways because it helps provide documentation to support the compensation claim overall.

Depression is a serious problem that many people suffer from and if it was indeed onset by a workplace injury, then you have it within your rights to include it in a workers’ compensation claim. If this or any aspect of the claim is denied to you, it is a good idea to consult with an attorney to see what your options are for fighting it. To learn about how we at the Franco Law Firm can help you in your workers’ compensation case, please call us at (813) 872-0929.