When an employee is injured and has a workers' compensationclaim, it's crucial for employers and insurers to look beyond theemployee's physical and medical issues to address the injuredworkers' mental health needs. Failing to do so could result inlonger and more costly absences and, ultimately, return-to-work(RTW) failure.

There's a complex array of psychosocial issues that arise withemployees out on workers' compensation, points out Sherri Hickey,assistant vice president–Medical Management at Safety National, aprovider of alternative risk-funding products such as excessworkers' compensation, deductible casualty, loss portfoliotransfers, and reinsurance. These include concern over being ableto return to work, anxiety about losing their jobs, and fear ofpain, whether real or imagined. "This is sometimes referred to as'catastrophizing' — taking every pain, even if it's minor, andexaggerating it to the point where they believe their life hasended with this injury," she says.

Related: Catastrophic injuries in the workplace: How toprevent the 'vortex of failure'