[Negative press coverage can lead to acknowledgement of occupational psychiatric disorder]

Some of the cases of acknowledged occupational psychiatric disorder in Denmark have been exposed to negative press coverage. Such individuals might have been exposed to violence to a lower extent than other with an acknowledged psychological work injury. We compared 25 cases with 35 controls matched on age and gender. The cases had experienced significantly fewer incidents of violence and had less anxiety and flashback symptoms than the controls. The results suggest that the negative press coverage was the reason for the psychiatric symptoms rather than exposures at the workplace.