Unfortunately, most injured workers are not in a financial position that allows them to make this choice. The other solution is to make sure you have appropriate Board Certified specialists involved in your case, NOW and for the foreseeable future. . . These specialists must be willing and capable of writing the type of detailed narrative reports that OWCP requires. Once the physicians have written the report, it will need to be updated and submitted every year, in a complete narrative, not just as a brief addendum. At this point, it is really the effects of the physical condition on your mental outlook and your ability to function in those aspects of life that most people take for granted that needs to be documented.
Physical injuries can be strange things.
One person with severe injuries may be able to continue on while someone with what appear to be minor injuries sinks into a major depression and chronic pain syndrome. Our bodies are not machines, we all react in different ways. But it is this big picture that the psychiatrist must document and explain in terms of how the work injury has caused or worsened your ability to function. Someone like myself can help you continue to fight your claim with OWCP, but only if you have the doctors backing us up with the documentation. Ultimately, you need to figure out how you can survive this process without letting it consume you.