As you know, a workplace accident can significantly impact your ability to earn a living, if you need to take time off to recover from your injuries and especially if you become disabled. You and other North Carolina residents might underestimate the long-term effects on your employability and quality of life that work-related post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and other emotional disorders can have.
How can I get a work-related anxiety disorder, you might wonder? The following situations illustrate the ways this type of emotional trauma may affect you or others:
- You suffered emotional trauma after witnessing an accident that resulted in the serious injury or death of a co-worker.
- You were involved in an accident that left you with serious injuries, and upon returning to work you find that your job gives you anxiety and fear.
- You developed depression when you didn’t recover as quickly as you hoped, or an accident left you with permanent injuries.
- Workplace hostility, bullying, discrimination or harassment has given you depression or anxiety.
In addition to being mentally draining, an emotional disorder can cause physical symptoms if you have been suffering long enough. For example, after several weeks or months of PTSD or anxiety, you can develop insomnia, migraines, high blood pressure, joint pain and heart palpitations. Ongoing anxiety and depression might also raise your risk of having a stroke or heart attack, or developing other physical conditions, such as diabetes, obesity and even cancer.
You might worry that you will not be eligible for workers’ compensation if your disorders are emotional, rather than physical. However, workers’ compensation benefits include anxiety-related disorders, provided you can show that your condition is work-related. Depression and PTSD often improve with professional treatment, which can enable you to become more effective in the workplace and improve your quality of living.
