Opinion ID: 1621874
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: counseling for anger and frustration

Text: Concurrently with awarding vocational rehabilitation services, the trial court found that Worline was entitled to receive counseling for anger and frustration. This determination was based upon evidence indicating that Worline would not achieve maximum medical recovery until he received such counseling. Alstom Power argues that the trial court was clearly wrong because the source of Worline's anger and frustration was not his physical injuries. Worline testified that he was feeling very depressed because he did not have any money and, with regard to his anger, that he thought something should be done about the people who were involved and working for this company. Alstom Power claims, therefore, that Worline's anger, by his own admission, is related to mental stimuli and not to his physical injuries and that the compensation court was clearly wrong in awarding counseling. In addition to physical impairments, psychological injuries are compensable under the workers' compensation scheme. Kraft v. Paul Reed Constr. & Supply, 239 Neb. 257, 475 N.W.2d 513 (1991). The question is whether there was sufficient evidence in the record for the trial court to determine that Worline's psychological injuries were a result of the work-related accident. In workers' compensation cases involving allegations of psychological injuries, the burden is on the claimant to prove by a preponderance of evidence that his disability is the result of an accident arising out of his employment. Id. A worker is entitled to recover compensation for a mental illness if it is a proximate result of the worker's injury and results in disability. Sweeney v. Kerstens & Lee, Inc., supra . Where the evidence is sufficient to permit the trier of fact to find that a psychological injury is directly related to the accident and the employee is unable to work, the employee is entitled to be compensated. Id. Worline testified he had never received psychiatric or psychological treatment before his work injuries of November 2000 but that as his physical problems arising from the accident lingered, his psychological condition deteriorated. Watt, a psychologist, evaluated Worline at the request of the Social Security Administration and summarized that Worline had been suffering from frustration, pain, and anger secondary to an injury he received on the job. Watt diagnosed Worline as suffering from pain disorder associated with both psychological and medical conditions and adjustment disorder with mixed depression and anxiety. Dr. Jeffrey Coffman, a psychiatrist, also evaluated Worline. In Coffman's opinion, the ongoing nature of Worline's pain and the work-related disability he had endured represented the type of stressors recognized as precipitants in the criteria for adjustment disorder. Coffman found that sufficient stressors existed from the injuries and their consequences to induce an adjustment disorder causing Worline's current disability. Zondag, an occupational medicine specialist, testified that in addition to the physical injuries, Worline experienced an adjustment reaction to the change in his life because of all these things, which led to this anxiety and his depression and led to some ongoing problem pain. Zondag concluded that Worline, because of the reaction to change that has been produced upon his body, has got a significant emotional difficulty that occurred that's exemplified by . . . over-reporting, his difficulty with interaction, his difficulty with speaking out of turn, his difficulty with not always following the lines of questions. And I think that's an adjustment reaction problem that's there. Zondag believed that based upon Worline's work restrictions and his emotional difficulties, he would not be able to return to competitive employment or be employable or retrainable. Zondag opined that Worline's emotional difficulties were causally related to the circumstances surrounding the work-related accident, which circumstances included the denial of his workers' compensation claims and the resulting litigation, his medical treatment, and the difficulties he had experienced functioning in his job. Although a functional capacity evaluation indicated Worline could do some work, Zondag opined that Worline was unable to work at that time due to his anger management and frustration. According to Zondag, Worline's emotional response and adjustment reaction were based upon the injuries of November 2000. In addressing the issue of anger and frustration, the trial court found there was no doubt that Worline was unable to return to his position as a boilermaker and that Worline knew this and was angry. He had been earning approximately $50,000 to $60,000 per year and was presently in a position where he had to find employment. There were no jobs in Evansville, Wyoming, that would pay $50,000 to $60,000 per year to someone with Worline's educational background and physical restrictions. He was relegated to an entry-level job that would pay around $12,000 to $15,000 per year, assuming such job was available. The compensation court concluded that Worline should be given counseling for his anger and frustration and that vocational rehabilitation services should be provided. It found that Worline's problem was his inability to deal with his present situation and his inability to perform physical activities and physical labor as he had in the past. It concluded that a counselor should address these issues, which had resulted from the injuries suffered in the accident of November 2, 2000. Alstom Power relies upon our decision in Dyer v. Hastings Indus., 252 Neb. 361, 562 N.W.2d 348 (1997). In that case, the trial court concluded that the claimant's depression had resulted from a mental stimulus rather than physical trauma. Dyer is distinguishable because no physical injury had caused the claimant's depression. Instead, he had been demoted and his pay had been reduced as a result of alleged performance deficiencies. The claimant contended that the accident occurred when he was harassed by his supervisors. He asserted that his depression rendered him unable to work and forced him to seek continuing medical attention. Dr. Terry Davis conducted a psychiatric evaluation of Worline in May 2004 and opined that he suffered from conversion disorder. Davis did not believe the disorder was caused by the work accident and injuries. Although Alstom Power points to evidence that Worline's psychological difficulties were not caused by the accident, the trial court was entitled to accept the opinions of certain experts over others. The record presented conflicting medical testimony, and we will not substitute our judgment for that of the compensation court. We conclude that the record presents sufficient evidence to permit the trial court to find that Worline's psychological injuries resulted from the work-related accident. The court did not err in finding that Worline needed counseling for anger and frustration.