Workers' Comp in Ohio: Does Ohio Allow Claims for Depression, Anxiety, or PTSD?

From toxic bosses and impossible deadlines to traumatic events like workplace shootings, your job can be hard on your mental health. In fact, 40% of American workers say that their job has a negative impact on their mental health.

While all work-related mental health issues deserve to be taken seriously, not all are covered by workers' compensation laws. As a general rule, workers' comp allows employees to recover lost income and medical expenses when they suffer an injury or illness stemming from their job. Unlike workplace physical injuries, however, mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety can be harder to measure objectively, and it can be difficult to prove that they are work-related.

For these reasons, some states do not allow workers' comp coverage for purely psychological injuries in the absence of any physical harm. Ohio has traditionally been one of those states.

If you suffer from a mental health condition caused by work stress—but you haven't sustained any physical injuries—you're generally not entitled to recover workers' comp benefits in Ohio.

Let's take a closer look at the law governing benefits for workers' mental health conditions in Ohio.

Ohio Rules on Workers' Comp for Psychological Injuries

While Ohio workers generally can't receive workers' comp for mental health conditions resulting from workplace stress, they can receive benefits for psychological conditions from certain other causes.

Ohio law gives workers the right to seek benefits for a psychological injury in two specific circumstances:

• when your depression, anxiety, or other mental health condition was caused by a work-related physical injury or occupational disease, or
• when you are a first responder who suffers from work-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even if you haven't sustained a physical injury (these are technically not "workers' comp" claims, but they provide similar benefits).

Workers' Comp Benefits for Mental Health Issues Stemming from a Physical Injury

While you can't seek benefits for purely psychological injuries in Ohio unless you're a first responder, you can seek workers' comp when your mental health condition stems from a work-related physical injury.

Here are a few examples of this type of injury:

• An employee falls off a ladder at work, sustains serious back injuries, and develops severe depression as a result.
• A worker is involved in a car accident while driving for work and suffers serious physical injuries, which, in turn, cause PTSD.

To prove this type of claim, you need to show that your mental health condition stems from your work-related physical injury, rather than from some other cause. In the above car accident example, you'd need to show that your PTSD was caused by your physical injuries themselves and not simply by your involvement in the accident.

All Ohio employers with more than one employee are required to purchase workers' comp coverage from a state insurance fund administered by the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC). The BWC is responsible for investigating and deciding all workers' comp claims except those involving first responder PTSD.

Compensation for First Responders Suffering From PTSD

Recognizing that first responders often are involved in extremely traumatic events in the course of serving the public, Ohio passed a law in 2021 to provide compensation for public safety officers who've suffered work-related PTSD without any accompanying physical injuries.

To recover under this law, workers such as police officers and firefighters need only show that they've been diagnosed with PTSD and that their PTSD arises out of or was sustained in the course of their employment. Employers are prohibited from retaliating against an employee for filing or pursuing a PTSD claim.

Claims under this law are not overseen by the BWC, but instead are administered by a separate fund created specifically for first responder PTSD claims. As such, these are technically not "workers' comp" claims, but they provide similar benefits. Public entities that employ first responders are required to pay into this fund; private employers are not.

How a Workers' Comp Attorney Can Help

Because workers' comp claims are often contested, they can be lengthy and complex. This is especially true for cases involving psychological injuries, as they are less straightforward than on-the-job physical injuries.

A workers' comp lawyer can help you evaluate your claim, navigate the various stages of the process, and recover the benefits to which you're entitled. Most workers' comp attorneys charge a fee only if you win your case, and don't require any money up front.