The employee has to decide whether to go back, or continue to pursue disability channels. Some problem cases respond by having a relapse. Others go back, passively accepting the physician's opinion that they're capable of working, but protesting all the way. Such a worker may communicate distress in a variety of ways. Posturing, complaining, resting, groaning, and refusing to do certain tasks are all good ways of manifesting on the outside that you hurt on the inside.
Some employees go back to reinstate lapsed disability benefits for another cycle.
Or they aggravate the original injury. Or they reach for the telephone, feel a spasm, and the process starts over. The employer, too, may sabotage the release to work date by demanding employees be 100 per cent capable before they're permitted to return. In this environment, the only thing working at full capacity is the disability payment system. Adjusting to change is a basic life skill at which some people are better than others.