The Mental Health Consequences of Workplace Injury and Illness

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit an article to a Special Issue on the Mental Health Consequences of Workplace Injury and Illness. Globally, every year, an estimated 340 million occupational accidents result in injury, and a further 160 million cases of occupational illness. It is increasingly clear that many workers who are injured or become ill at work also experience symptoms of common mental disorders such as depression or anxiety, or experience psychological distress. For example, an Australian study estimated that 38% of workers with work-related musculoskeletal disorders also reported moderate or high levels of psychological distress. A Canadian study reported a 12-month 50% prevalence of depressive symptoms in workers with musculoskeletal conditions. These symptoms can delay return to work and complicate recovery, and may also impact relationships at home and at work, and the worker’s ability to participate in society. Conversely, interventions that address the psychological consequences of an injury can speed up the return to work and have positive impacts.

This field of research is advancing rapidly. We are interested in submissions that address the epidemiology and determinants of mental health conditions and symptoms following work injuries and illness; the impacts on workers and their relationships with family and colleagues; the nature, timing, and cost of service provision to workers with such conditions and symptoms; outcomes for workers such as their engagement in work and their health; on interventions that may have a positive impact on those outcomes; on methods for identifying injured workers with mental health concerns; and on the interaction of policy and administrative systems with mental health in workers with occupational injury and illness. This Special Issue invites papers that present studies on these or closely related topics. We invite qualitative or quantitative studies from authors working in disciplines such as health, epidemiology, law, economics, and the social sciences, and encourage contributions from authors living in high, middle, and low-income countries.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Collie
Dr. Shannon Gray
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• mental health
• occupational health
• injury
• workplace
• common mental disorders
• workers’ compensation
• healthcare use
• work disability