Psychological injuries are real — and maritime law recognizes them.
A near-miss, a serious accident, watching a coworker die — offshore trauma can cause PTSD that outlasts any physical wound. Maritime law allows recovery for it, under a specific standard.
Can I recover for a psychological injury such as PTSD offshore?
Psychological injuries are real, and maritime law recognizes them. Where PTSD or another psychological injury follows an offshore incident, a seaman or maritime worker may recover through Jones Act negligence, unseaworthiness, and maintenance and cure.
Key takeaways
- If you were a seaman or maritime worker, a psychological injury such as PTSD can support a Jones Act, unseaworthiness, and maintenance-and-cure claim.
- The Jones Act needs only a very light showing of employer fault; unseaworthiness needs none.
- Maintenance and cure is owed regardless of fault while you recover.
- Recovery is measured by category (medical, lost earning capacity, pain, future care), not a fixed amount.
- Deadlines are limited and evidence fades, so early advice matters.
Trauma that doesn't heal on its own.
PTSD and related psychological injuries offshore can follow a serious accident, a near-miss in which the worker feared for his life, or witnessing the death or grave injury of a crewmate. Symptoms — flashbacks, avoidance, hypervigilance, depression — can be as disabling as a physical injury.
These injuries are real and medically recognized, and they can end an offshore career as surely as a broken back.
How offshore workers suffer it.
Psychological injury follows falls, explosions and fires, man-overboard and drowning events, helicopter crashes, and serious physical injuries — whether the worker was hurt or narrowly escaped.
What the claim is worth.
Maritime law recognizes psychological injury, but the standard is specific. Under Consolidated Rail Corp. v. Gottshall, a purely emotional claim is tested against a “zone of danger” standard — the worker must have been in immediate risk of physical harm and feared for his own safety. Where PTSD accompanies a physical injury, it is recoverable along with the physical harm.
Past and future medical bills, surgery, rehabilitation, and a life-care plan for ongoing needs.
Wages lost and the future earning capacity an offshore career represented — often the largest part of a serious claim.
Physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, and permanent impairment or disability.
If you are a seaman, maintenance and cure covers daily living and medical costs until maximum medical improvement — regardless of fault.
A near-miss that never touched you can still end your career — and the law has a place for that.
Sound like your situation? Calling us is confidential, costs nothing, and starts nothing you don’t choose to start.
Text (713) 489-2297We build the case around the full cost of the injury.
Doyle Dennis Avery tries catastrophic offshore-injury cases to verdict — including the $7.86 million result in Gillies v. Valaris. That includes Gillies v. Valaris, where PTSD accompanied a serious physical injury in a case tried to a $7,861,000 verdict. The firm builds these cases by documenting the full lifetime cost of the injury — the future surgeries, the care, and the lost career — and proving who is responsible.
If you or a family member is facing a serious injury after an offshore accident, an early and thorough investigation protects both the evidence and the value of the claim.
What the other side will argue — and how it’s met.
The defense treats psychological injury as suspect — not real, exaggerated, or pre-existing. Maritime law says otherwise.
Maritime law recognizes genuine psychological harm, particularly where it accompanies a physical injury or arises from being placed in danger. A serious offshore-injury case the firm tried to a multimillion-dollar verdict included PTSD alongside the physical harm.
Under the featherweight causation standard, an employer takes its worker as it finds him. Lighting up a silent or degenerated condition is a compensable injury, not a defense — a head strike that woke a quiet nerve condition carried a verdict on exactly this point.
Insurers hire investigators to film injured workers for weeks, hunting for a moment that looks inconsistent. It usually proves nothing, while the imaging and the treating specialists carry the truth.
The defense pays for an independent medical exam built to minimize the injury. It rarely outweighs the physicians who actually treat you over months; the contemporaneous treating record is what a jury credits.
Psychological injury is proven like any other — with the treating record.
PTSD, depression, and anxiety after a traumatic offshore event are diagnosable and treatable, and the proof is the same in kind as any injury: the treating psychiatrist or psychologist, the diagnostic record, and the clear tie between the event and the symptoms. A prior mental-health history does not defeat the claim — under the eggshell principle and the featherweight causation standard, aggravating it is compensable. The damages reflect treatment, the effect on work and family, and the long arc of recovery.
A mind injured offshore is injured offshore — the law does not require the wound to be visible.
What to protect while it still exists.
Psychological-injury cases live or die on consistent, honest treatment records.
See the specialist your injury needs and follow the treatment plan. Consistent, specialist care is both better medicine and the strongest evidence of how serious the injury is.
Describe the mechanism and your symptoms to every provider, and keep your own record of pain, limits, and missed work. Gaps and understatement are what the defense mines.
A one-time defense independent medical exam is not your treatment. Get advice before attending one, and keep your own treating specialists at the center of your care.
Maritime injury and death claims carry deadlines — generally three years for the Jones Act, but some are shorter, and evidence disappears within days. Early action preserves it.
From our cases
Frequently asked questions about offshore a psychological injury claims
Can I recover for a psychological injury such as PTSD suffered offshore?
Usually, yes, if you were a seaman or maritime worker. A Jones Act seaman can recover from the employer for negligence, bring an unseaworthiness claim against the vessel owner, and receive maintenance and cure. What you can recover depends on the severity of the injury, the fault involved, and your lost earning capacity.
What can I recover for a psychological injury such as PTSD offshore?
Recovery is measured in categories rather than a fixed amount: past and future medical care, lost wages and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, the cost of psychological and psychiatric treatment, and maintenance and cure while you recover. The total depends on the specific facts, so no honest lawyer can promise a number up front.
Do I have to prove my employer was at fault?
Not entirely. Under the Jones Act you need only show the employer's negligence played some part, however slight, in causing the injury, which is a very worker-friendly standard. An unseaworthiness claim requires no negligence at all, only that the vessel or its equipment was not reasonably fit. Maintenance and cure is owed regardless of fault.
What is maintenance and cure?
Maintenance and cure is a no-fault maritime benefit owed to an injured seaman: maintenance covers daily living expenses and cure covers medical care, until you reach maximum medical improvement, regardless of who was at fault.
Does maritime law cover psychological injuries?
Yes. Maritime law recognizes psychological injuries such as PTSD, particularly where they accompany a physical injury or arise from being placed in immediate danger. These claims require careful medical documentation but are real and recognized.
How long do I have to file an offshore injury claim?
Generally three years for Jones Act and general maritime claims, but some deadlines are shorter and vary by the type of claim and your status. Because evidence also disappears quickly, confirm your deadline with a lawyer promptly.
What should you do after a psychological injury such as PTSD offshore?
Get medical care and make sure the injury is reported in writing. Preserve evidence early, including incident reports, photos, equipment, and witness names, and do not give a recorded statement or sign anything before talking to a lawyer.
What happens when you text us
Tell us what happened — in your own words, as much or as little as you want.
We review it free. You learn whether maritime law protects you and what your options actually are.
You decide. Nothing is filed, and no one contacts your employer, unless you choose to move forward.
Your conversation with us is confidential. There is no fee unless we win. Hablamos español.
Reach out even if…
- You think the accident was partly your fault — under the Jones Act, your own fault reduces a recovery but does not bar it.
- You already gave a statement or signed something — a release signed under pressure can be challenged.
- You still work for the company — talking to a lawyer is confidential, and retaliation for pursuing a claim can itself be actionable.
- You’re not sure your case is “big enough” — that’s exactly what a free review is for.
Hurt offshore? Find out what your claim is really worth.
A serious offshore injury can mean a lifetime of medical care and lost earning power. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP builds the full picture of what an injury costs and pursues every responsible party. A case review costs nothing, there is no obligation, and your employer will not know you contacted us.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The law that applies to an offshore injury — the Jones Act, the LHWCA and \u00a7 905(b), OCSLA, the general maritime law, DOHSA, or another body of law — the available damages, and the parties responsible depend on the specific facts. Whether a purely emotional injury is recoverable depends on the zone-of-danger analysis and the specific facts; some courts have applied it to workers who witnessed a crewmate's death. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP · Houston, Texas. This is attorney advertising.
