Research shows that greater than 50% of injured workers develop depressive symptoms post injury—particularly during the first month. It’s true, many workers that suffer a serious physical injury will fall into a depression as a result sleep deprivation, pain, loss of ability, and lifestyle changes—just to name a few. The stress of sustaining an injury often triggers both anxiety and depression—which can develop unexpectedly and often catch injured workers’ by surprise. We know that under Georgia’s law, in order for a claim to be compensable, a worker must sustain a physical injury that arises out of and occurs in the course of employment. Which raises the question, will workers’ comp pay for consequential depression that may develop?

Consequential Depression Post Injury.

Consequential depression is a psychological injury that occurs as a result of the original workers’ compensation injury. In other words, it is a post-injury depression that was directly caused by the injury sustained while on the job. And yes, it is likely to be covered by workers’ compensation. An example would be a claimant who sustained a back injury while working that caused him to not be able to return to work. Being forced to stay home made him depressed and therefore is a psychological condition that might be covered by workers’ comp.

What if I was already depressed when I got injured?

Georgia law requires you to prove that the physical injury actually contributed to the depression and caused new or different symptoms. Simply put, if the employee was depressed at the time of the injury. new symptoms must present themselves which require a different treatment modality.

Georgia Requires Physical Injury.

In Georgia, workers’ compensation will not cover the treatment of depression unless it happened as a result of a physical injury. Stated differently, an employee must sustain an acceptable physical work injury, then develop the subsequent depression as a direct and natural result of the original work injury in order for it to be compensable. Depression on its own will not be covered.

If you are an injured worker with consequential depression and your claim is being denied, you must contact a workers’ comp attorney immediately. Your attorney can help you put together the information needed to prove your depression was related to the work injury and therefore should be covered.