Miss the 60-day notice deadline and your employer can attack the claim before the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission even reaches whether your psychological injury is compensable. In Maryland, you generally must notify the employer within 60 days and file the claim within 2 years.

The coworker advice is too broad. It is not automatically true that Maryland workers' comp only covers injuries with bruises, fractures, or a physical wound.

Maryland does recognize some psychological injury claims, but this is where bad advice costs people money. A nurse, tech, or teacher in Gaithersburg who develops PTSD, acute stress disorder, or severe anxiety after a violent incident may have a claim, but these cases are usually fought harder than straightforward back or shoulder injuries.

The big myth is: "No blood, no case." That is wrong.

The reality is more complicated:

• If the mental injury came from a specific work incident or a job-related traumatic event, it may be compensable.
• If it is framed as ordinary job stress, burnout, staffing shortages, or a difficult shift, employers often argue that is not enough.
• Medical records matter fast. An ER note, therapist evaluation, or psychiatric diagnosis that ties symptoms to the work event can make or break the claim.

That matters after Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, or Thanksgiving shifts, when Montgomery County roads like I-270, Route 355, and the Beltway bring more drunk-driving crashes and higher emergency-department volume. A healthcare worker injured psychologically by a patient attack, grisly trauma exposure, or a violent bystander event should not assume Maryland bars the claim.

The claim itself goes through the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission in Baltimore, not your hospital HR office. HR reporting is not the same thing as properly filing the workers' comp claim.