Being injured at work can significantly affect you and your career. The impact may be short-term or long-term, depending on the injury you suffered. Understanding the potential impacts of a work-related injury is vital when fighting for your rights.
Here is how a work-related injury can impact you beyond the physical injury:
The emotional impacts of an injury
A work injury can lead to emotional distress. You may experience depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anger.
Different factors can contribute to such emotions. These include the fear of being unable to perform job-related tasks in the future, a sense of helplessness from the inability to perform everyday tasks and frustrations about the circumstances surrounding the accident. Many injured workers experience catastrophic thinking (the tendency to expect the worst-case scenario). One is more likely to expect the injury to lead to job loss and financial strain.
Moreover, missing work when recovering may cause you to feel powerless or that your sense of identity has been disrupted. You had a routine, which involved going to work and interacting with colleagues and other people. Staying home may make you feel like you are losing your connections.
An employer should maintain regular contact through check-ins with an employee recovering from an injury. It can take weeks or months for an injured worker to return to work, and that period may have increased the likelihood of the employee suffering a mental health condition if they are not handled properly.
The emotional impacts of a work-related injury can affect recovery by delaying healing. This can increase the risk of long-term issues and, in turn, medical expenses. It’s crucial to pay close attention to how an injury affects you in all aspects of your life to seek what you deserve.
