Receiving Workers’ Compensation Benefits for PTSD in Alabama

It is universally understood that workers’ compensation covers physical injuries sustained during the course of employment.

However, whether workers’ compensation covers psychological injuries can be a bit more complex. This is largely because mental injuries are not as easily identifiable by medical professionals as a broken bone or severe laceration.

Psychological claims often cannot be measured through physical findings. Instead, an employee may present subjective mental symptoms.

A workplace accident or incident that leaves you traumatized could result in long-lasting mental health concerns, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and it’s important to know that Alabama workers’ compensation benefits could cover your costs.

What is work-related PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental condition that can occur in people who experience or witness a traumatic or terrifying event.

People who experience PTSD are often survivors of war, natural disasters (like tornadoes, floods, or earthquakes), violent crimes (like rape, sexual assault, mugging, or homicide), and serious accidents like car crashes that lead to catastrophic injuries (such as brain hemorrhage, amputations, and paralysis).

Some people who are diagnosed with PTSD are mildly affected and are able to function adequately in their daily lives, but others are severely disabled, and it affects how they live and work.

Although you could experience PTSD from an experience at any job, people who work in emergency services, such as police, firefighters, EMTs, health care workers, rescue workers, and the military, are at a higher risk than people in other types of professions.

Symptoms of PTSD

Symptoms of PTSD can vary from person to person but often include the following:

• Flashbacks or reliving the trauma repeatedly, including physical symptoms like a racing heart or sweating.
• Nightmares or other sleep-related issues like insomnia.
• Distress that is triggered by reminders of the trauma.
• Avoidance or purposely staying clear of people, places, thoughts, or feelings that remind you of the trauma.
• Negative thoughts and feelings might include ongoing or distorted beliefs about yourself or others, such as disbelief in your own self-worth or an inability to trust other people. It could also include loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy, suicidal thoughts, feeling emotionally numb, depression, guilt, or anxiety.
• Trouble concentrating or difficulty remembering essential details of the traumatic event.
• Irritability or being easily startled and feeling tense and edgy.

When does an injury qualify for Alabama workers’ compensation benefits for PTSD?

Are mental injuries compensable under the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act?

The quick answer is yes, they are. However, it does require some explanation, as the law in this area is quite tricky.

Workers’ compensation benefits are provided to workers who were injured while performing tasks related to their jobs or at their workplace.

In order to receive benefits under workers’ compensation, you don’t need to prove fault or negligence. However, you do need to prove that:

1. You were injured (and to what extent).
2. The injury happened either at your workplace or while you were doing your job.

These benefits can include costs related to psychological distress, including PTSD and depression, if they meet the criteria for workers’ compensation. The condition could qualify if it costs you money, either for medical treatment (including psychological counseling or medication) or if it causes you to lose wages as a result of being unable to work.

Alabama follows a set of standards that you must meet in order to receive workers’ compensation benefits for an emotional injury. A worker can’t just say they feel stressed or depressed because of an incident at work and expect to qualify for benefits.

To be compensable, the mental injury must be diagnosed by an employer-approved doctor and linked to a physical injury that also occurred during the on-the-job accident.

A workers’ compensation insurance carrier typically provides medical care for a mental injury during the length of time that the physical injury also requires medical care. So, as long as the authorized treating physician, typically a therapist or psychologist, links the mental injury to the physical injury, it will be covered by work comp.

What might change, however, later on is if the treating health care provider is of the professional opinion that the mental injury is no longer tied to the physical injury. This typically happens when the mental injury and related symptoms are tied to the event that caused the injuries at work and not tied to the physical injury.

The Alabama Courts have set a standard in psychological injury cases called the “contributing cause standard.” Ex parte Vongsouvanh, 795 So.2d 625 (Ala. 2000); CVS Corporation, Inc. v. Frances Smith, 981 So.2d 1128 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007).

This standard states that the physical injury does not have to be the sole cause of the injury, and the employee only needs to show that the physical injury was a factor in causing the mental anguish or injury.

What if I have a pre-existing mental or psychological condition?

A pre-existing mental condition does not affect the ability to receive medical treatment or compensation as long as the physical injury causes the mental illness to start, become worse, or reactivate. See Taylor v. Mobile Pulley and Machinery Works, 714 So. 2d 300 (Ala. Civ. App. 1997).

Thus, as long as the mental anguish at least partially stems from the physical injury, then the claim for compensation is valid.

This area of the law can be quite confusing and is often hotly contested by the employer and its workers’ compensation company. The bottom line here is that there must be a physical injury tied to the mental injury for it to be compensable.

What types of workers’ comp benefits can I get for PTSD in Alabama?

Workers’ compensation benefits could include:

• A percentage of your lost wages
• Costs for medical treatment
• Transportation to medical appointments
• Job placement or retraining if you’re unable to return to work in the same capacity as prior to the traumatic event.

Tips for preventing PTSD at work

Employers should take steps to prevent incidents that could cause post-traumatic stress disorder. These include training employees to be aware of avoiding violent acts (such as being wary of isolated areas), ensuring that employees are not exposed to toxic substances, and providing adequate personal protective equipment.

Employers could take steps that include:

• Training workers to handle dangerous equipment, materials, or situations safely
• Equipping workers with necessary safety gear and protective equipment
• Providing clear instructions for potentially unsafe tasks

What should I do if I’m diagnosed with PTSD after a work incident?

If you think you have work-related PTSD, you need to see your doctor. Your doctor should either make a mental health referral to a specialist or recommend treatment and prescribe medications.

You also need to notify your employer, as you would with any work-related injury for which you intend to make a workers’ compensation claim.

Alabama Code 25-5-78 requires you to notify your employer in writing within 5 days of the injury. In most instances, this includes the date you discovered the injury. For example, you might not experience PTSD on the day a traumatic event occurs, but you need to notify your doctor as soon as it becomes clear that you have PTSD or if you are diagnosed.

Failure to provide notice within 5 days could result in a denied workers’ compensation claim unless you can prove that you were prevented from doing so because of a physical or mental incapacity. In that case, written notice must be provided within 90 days.

Since time is of the essence, it’s crucial that you contact an Alabama workers’ compensation lawyer immediately. Your lawyer will review your medical reports, the cause of the condition, and other evidence in order to make a strong case that your PTSD was caused by a work-related incident.

If you’ve experienced trauma at work or believe you have lasting mental illness or PTSD as a result of work conditions, contact the lawyers at Nomberg Law Firm today for a free consultation.