Psychological injuries in the workplace continue to be a burgeoning concern for both employees and employers. The consequences of this kind of workplace injury can be high with lost time and efficacy as well as the risks of workers’ compensation claims.
If you think you suffer from psychological injuries or mental problems due to your work in California, you might want to file a workers’ compensation claim. The state recognizes psychological or psychiatric injuries in its workers’ compensation system. However, employers and insurance companies generally decline such claims for psychological conditions such as depression and anxiety.
ODG Law wouldn’t let that happen. We understand the hardship of working in a demanding environment and the stress that goes along with it just to reach a quota and earn more. If you have some issues with the filing of your claim, our expert Glendale workers’ compensation lawyers will always be here to help you.
Call us at (818) 975-3080 and schedule a FREE consultation. We work on a contingency fee basis.
What is Psychological Injury?
Psychological injury is a mental or emotional symptom that affects a person’s life — how they feel, think, and behave. Also called mental injury, it involves despair, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and apprehension.
Expert Glendale Workers’ Compensation Lawyers: 3 Factors that Cause Psychological Injuries in the Workplace
Workplace psychological injuries occur due to different factors. These include environmental, organizational, and individual.
Environmental. This factor involves hazardous noise levels, equipment, and accidents.
Organizational. It includes poor levels of assistance from superiors, consistent transitions, and high degrees of stress.
Individual. This concerns personality and previous experiences, making a person more or less possibly suffer a psychological injury.
Examples of Psychological Injury and What Causes Them
Work-related stress contributes a lot to psychological injuries in the workplace. Examples include:
Work Overload
When demand is high, more workforce is needed, especially in the manufacturing business or warehouse industry such as Amazon during the holiday seasons. Workers who filed for leave don’t have a replacement leaving them with no choice but to accept extra work. These added hours of work and labor can lead to work-related stress which can cause depression, distress, sleep problems, and poor work performance.
Some companies or businesses set unreasonable high targets, making workers worry about their personal performance and feel inadequate. The stress and distraught daily grind can make workers feel like their life is consumed by a level of occupational stress, making it difficult to have a break and relax after work.
Changes in Work Shift
Night and shift work has a significant impact on a worker’s job performance and mental health as well. According to studies, psychological harm can be as harmful as the effect on physical health. Additionally, after-hours work can cause various health issues from fatigue to cancer.
Interruptions in shift workers’ circadian rhythm lead to higher levels of stress and exasperation. Shift work stress can grow caused by missing family responsibilities and letting slip social events. Psychological injuries make workers wait longer before they can get back to work than physical injuries.
Job Insecurity
The pressure of organizational restructuring, merging, and repetition can dramatically employees physically and emotionally. Extreme job insecurity is a bigger indicator of poor health conditions than smoking or hypertension due to stress. An increasing portion of an employed workforce on a contract basis feels the persistent threat of becoming laid off with no warning or even compensation.
Others worry about how and where to find a job or how to pay their mortgage if the company or the employer cancels their contract. They may speculate what their managers think of their performance and if ever the business has plans of keeping them for a long time.
Bullying and Harassment
Bullying doesn’t only happen in schools but in the workplace as well which can be physical, verbal, social, emotional, or psychological. It can be a malicious remark, sexual harassment, rejection, threats, giving you senseless tasks, and pushing or shoving to name a few. The culprit can be your colleague or any person with a position such as your team leader, supervisor, or manager.
Bullying in the workplace can also cause psychological injuries, making workers stressed, worried and miserable, fear of going to work, lacking confidence, and no longer finding happiness or enjoyment in their work.
Dealing with Difficult Customers
There are good customers but there are also difficult customers that you need to deal with. It’s a stressful thing that will take time before it fades away even if you’re no longer face-to-face with the demanding and argumentative customer. Some salespeople who don’t know to handle those kinds of situations would worry the next time they encounter another one.
Customers sometimes take advantage of the saying, “A customer is always right” and make fun of employees as they curse them and make fun of them when they made mistakes in front of other customers. This humiliates the employee too much and feels worried about being fired.
Filing a Claim for Your Psychological or Psychiatric Injury
Even if the law authorizes compensation for a wide array of disabilities because of job-related mental stress. It may result in physical disorder, mental disorder, or both. However, filing a claim for this disorder isn’t easy as it may seem. For example, psychological stress injuries because of normal personnel actions are not compensable anymore.
- To receive benefits for your mental injury, you need to meet the following requirements:
- You are suffering from a “mental disorder” based on the diagnosis of accepted procedures
- You need medical treatment or become disabled because of your psychological injury
- You should have worked for your employer for at least 6 months
- You have to show that “actual events of employment” were the “chief” cause of your psychiatric injury
- Lastly, you need to prove that your demanding work is the only reason why you’re suffering from a psychiatric condition and not because of other reasons such as financial or marriage concerns
Consult with ODG Law for Help
Filing a claim for a psychological injury involves complicated laws. It’s best to consult with a knowledgeable and expert Glendale workers’ compensation lawyer for legal assistance. Our compassionate but well-versed lawyers will help you file your claim and prove that you suffer from a mental condition because of your work. You’ll surely face an uphill battle with skeptical insurance companies, but don’t worry because we got your back.
ODG Law is just a phone call away. You may reach us at (818) 975-3080 for a FREE evaluation of your case. Talk to us. We’re here to listen and understand.
