🧠 Psychiatric Work Injuries: Yes, You Can File for Workers’ Comp in California
If you’re suffering from severe stress, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, or even chest pain because of your job, you’re not alone—and you may be entitled to California Workers’ Compensation benefits.
Many workers in Los Angeles, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Panorama City, and the greater San Fernando Valley silently suffer from the invisible toll of toxic work environments. Whether it’s a bad manager, unsafe working conditions, harassment, or unbearable pressure, psychiatric injuries are just as real—and just as valid—as a back injury or a fall at work.
🧾 Your Rights Under California Law
Under Labor Code § 3208.3, you may be eligible for workers’ comp benefits if your job caused a diagnosable mental health condition, such as:
Depression
Anxiety
Panic disorder
PTSD
Sleep disturbance
Emotional distress or chest pain
To qualify, your condition must be diagnosed by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist using the DSM-IV TR. Then, a Primary Treating Physician (PTP) or Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) must determine that your job is the predominant cause (at least 51%) of your psychological condition.
If that standard is met, you may be entitled to:
✅ Medical treatment
✅ Psychotherapy and mental health support
✅ Up to 2/3 of your income in Temporary Disability (TD)
✅ Possible Permanent Disability (PD) compensation
⚠️ Psychiatric Impairment After a Catastrophic Injury
If you’ve suffered a catastrophic physical injury—such as an amputation, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, or severe burn—you may also be entitled to psychiatric permanent disability.
This is a critical legal exception. Normally, psychiatric conditions don’t result in a permanent disability award unless they’re the direct injury. But when your physical injury is deemed catastrophic, it unlocks additional benefits for psychological trauma and impairment.
However, proving a catastrophic injury and linking it to psychiatric harm takes skill, experience, and deep legal knowledge. You need a top-tier Workers’ Comp lawyer who can build the case correctly and fight back when the insurance company tries to deny or minimize your claim.
At Lee Partners Law, we’ve done this for decades—and we know how to make these complex cases stick.
🚫 Common Defenses by Insurance Companies
In 2013, California restricted some psychiatric claims. Watch out for these insurance tactics:
If your condition is only due to physical pain, you may be barred from receiving permanent disability.
If you’ve worked for the employer for less than 6 months, your claim could be denied (unless your injury was from a sudden event like violence or trauma).
If your injury resulted from "good faith personnel actions" (like discipline, layoffs, or transfers), benefits may be limited.
These laws are often misused to deny valid claims. That’s why it’s critical to have an experienced attorney who can disprove these defenses and get you the treatment and compensation you deserve.
📉 How Psychiatric Permanent Disability Is Measured (GAF Score)
If your psychiatric claim is accepted and you're being evaluated for Permanent Disability (PD), the value of your case depends on your Whole Person Impairment (WPI)—which in psychiatric claims is measured using the GAF score (Global Assessment of Functioning).
The GAF score is subjective and ranges from 1 to 100, measuring how much your mental health affects your ability to function socially and at work.
The lower the GAF score, the higher your Whole Person Impairment.
And the higher the WPI, the greater your final payout for permanent disability.
Lee Partners Law excels at maximizing your GAF score. We know how to present evidence, medical history, witness statements, and expert evaluations to show the real impact of your injury on your life. This can dramatically increase the PD value of your case.
🛡️ Why You Need a Top Workers' Compensation Attorney
Psychiatric claims are some of the most misunderstood and aggressively fought cases in California Workers’ Compensation. Insurance companies look for every excuse to deny, delay, or reduce your benefits.
At Lee Partners Law, David, Ali, and Michael Lee spent over 25 years defending insurance carriers. Now we use that insider knowledge to fight for injured workers—people like you who are simply trying to heal and move forward.
If you’re dealing with anxiety, depression, PTSD, stress, or emotional trauma from your job, don’t wait. Let us help.
We proudly serve injured workers in:
📍 Van Nuys
📍 Sherman Oaks
📍 Studio City
📍 Panorama City
📍 North Hollywood
📍 San Fernando Valley & Greater Los Angeles
📞 Free consultation with our team, call us at (310)-295-0822.
Those who are thinking about filing psychiatric claims also wonder Can I Be Fired for Filing a Workers’ Comp Claim in CA? The Answer is NO! Click the article to learn more.