PTSD & Mental Stress Workers' Comp Claims in NY

The 2025 reform changed everything for mental stress claims. Most workers no longer have to prove “greater than normal” stress.

TL;DR

• Effective January 1, 2025, S.6635/A.5745 eliminated the “greater than normal stress” requirement that had blocked most non-first-responder mental stress claims for decades.
• First responders (police, fire, EMS, correction) were already eligible under prior law. The reform extended viable claims to all other workers.
• Cumulative work-related PTSD, anxiety, and depression — properly documented and medically supported — are now claimable.
• The documentation standard remains real: workplace events or stressors must be identifiable and the medical opinion must establish causation.

Before and after the 2025 reform

Before: Non-first-responder mental stress claims required proof that the workplace stress was “greater than” the stress of similar work generally. This standard was almost impossible to meet and produced decades of denied claims.

After: S.6635/A.5745 (Governor Hochul, effective 1/1/2025) removed the greater-than-normal requirement for most workers. First responders had already been removed from the requirement in earlier amendments.

The post-2025 standard is simply that the mental injury arose out of and in the course of employment and is supported by competent medical evidence.

What still has to be shown

The reform did not eliminate the substantive requirements. Claimants still must establish:

1. A recognized mental health diagnosis (PTSD, MDD, GAD, adjustment disorder)
2. Causation by competent medical opinion linking the diagnosis to identifiable work events or stressors
3. Disability — inability to work, partial limitation, or need for treatment

Workplace events or stressors should be identifiable — specific incidents, identifiable patterns of exposure, documented harassment, etc. “I’m stressed at work” is not enough; the medical record needs to attach the symptoms to recognized events.

First responders — already eligible

Police officers, correction officers, firefighters, and EMS personnel were already eligible for mental stress claims under prior law via separate amendments. For these workers, the 2025 reform is not a change. PTSD claims from cumulative exposure to traumatic incidents are well-supported by the case law.

Common scenarios

• First responders — cumulative PTSD from traumatic call exposure, mass casualty events, line-of-duty death exposure, suicide-by-cop scenarios
• Healthcare workers — code blue exposure, patient deaths, violence in the ED, COVID-19 trauma
• Correction officers — inmate suicides, riots, assault witness exposure
• Banking and other workers held up at work — robbery and assault witness exposure
• Workplace violence survivors — direct assault, threats, hostile environment
• Cumulative workplace harassment — documented patterns

What the carrier pushes back on

• Pre-existing mental health treatment — not a bar, but contested
• Personal stressors outside work — used to argue causation
• Lack of specific incident — pushing the case toward “general stress” rather than identifiable events
• Section 114-a fraud allegations — social media surveillance for inconsistent affect/activity

Medical workup

• Psychiatrist or psychologist evaluation
• Recognized diagnostic criteria (DSM-5)
• Causation narrative linking diagnosis to work events
• Treatment plan and prognosis
• Functional limitations

What to do next

PTSD claims benefit from coordinated medical-legal approach from the start. The treating provider’s documentation in early treatment makes or breaks causation later. Contact me directly.

Frequently asked questions

What did the 2025 NY mental stress reform change?

S.6635/A.5745, effective January 1, 2025, eliminated the ‘greater than normal stress’ requirement that had blocked most non-first-responder mental stress claims. After the reform, cumulative workplace PTSD and other mental injuries are claimable by all workers when supported by medical evidence and identifiable work events.

Were first responders already covered?

Yes. Earlier amendments had already removed the greater-than-normal requirement for police, correction, fire, and EMS personnel. The 2025 reform extended viability to all other occupational categories.

What documentation supports a PTSD claim?

Recognized DSM-5 diagnosis, treating psychiatrist/psychologist evaluation, medical narrative connecting the diagnosis to identifiable work events or patterns, treatment plan, functional limitations. ‘I’m stressed at work’ is insufficient without identifiable triggering events or documented patterns.

Related pages

• FDNY EMS Workers’ Comp
• NYC Correction Officers
• NYS DOCCS Correction Officers
• Westchester County Correction Officers
• Rockland County Correction Officers
• NYC Health + Hospitals
• Workplace violence
• COVID-19 occupational claims