Mental Health Among Leading Causes Of Employee Short-Term Disability Claims

Mental health conditions have emerged as one of the primary causes of short-term disability claims across American workplaces, according to Sedgwick's mid-year 2025 workforce absence analysis of disability claim trends. For employees under 45, pregnancy remained the top reason for short-term disability claims.

However, mental health and substance use issues now follow closely behind for those younger than 55 years. Among workers aged 35 to 44 years, mental health-related claims were nearly equal to pregnancy claims.

Mental health claims increased significantly in both the under-25 and over-55 demographics. Postpartum depression alone affected approximately . . .