Three-quarters of employees suffering with stress related problems are able to return to work within six months, according to Legal & General data.
L&G revealed that 73% of claimants in 2010 (the most recently completed year for which data is available) to its group income protection schemes with stress related problems returned to work before the deferred period expired.
The rise continues a trend in steadily improving results that has seen the number of people returning to work before the end of the deferred period almost double since 2006.
Insurers have become increasingly pro-active in targeting and managing mental illnesses over the last five years as research has unveiled the significance of the problem.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development annual absence management survey, for non-manual workers, stress is the second biggest cause of short-term absence and the leading cause of long-term absence.
Legal & General managing director of group protection Diane Buckley, said: "Stress is one of the leading causes of long-term absence so employers should ensure that good quality support is available in the workplace.
"Our success in returning over seven in ten stress claimants back to work demonstrates the impact our specialist intervention can have," she added.
