(COLUMBIA, S.C.) -- South Carolina lawmakers are considering a change to the state's workers compensation laws for police and firefighters.

The existing law allows for workers compensation payments for physical injuries or mental injuries, but proving mental injury without accompanying physical injury is much more difficult, according to The State.

The law requires both medical evidence of mental injury as well as proof that the mental injury is the result "extraordinary and unusual conditions."

Last year, a former Spartanburg County sheriff's deputy brought a case to the South Carolina Supreme Court trying to receive workers compensation, which was denied him, after he developed post-traumatic stress disorder related to his shooting a man in self-defense. According to The State, the Supreme Court ruled that a police officer shooting someone is not "extraordinary or unusual."

While other options exist in such cases, such as police disability retirement pay, bipartisan support is growing for a current bill that would exempt police officers, firefighters and other public safety workers from the "extraordinary and unusual" clause.

According to The State, the current law in South Carolina holds compensation for mental injury to a higher standard than most others in the United States.

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