An injury at work may be worse for your mental health than an injury elsewhere

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-02-14 03:00

Australia; International

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Canadian and Australian researchers say injuring yourself at work may be worse for your mental health than injuring yourself outside of work.  The team looked at the mental health outcomes of 36,457 Canadians who had suffered an injury, 7,556 of whom had injured themselves at work. Among those with a workplace injury, rates of anxiety increased more and existing mental disorders worsened more following the injury than among people who had injured themselves elsewhere. The findings suggest that there may be features unique to the workplace and injury claims and compensation processes that negatively affect people's mental health, the experts say.