Car accidents can result in serious physical injury to drivers, passengers as well as pedestrians. However, car accidents can also leave drivers and passengers with mental and emotional injuries that may not be immediately apparent. This article will discuss mental and emotional injuries that are caused by car accidents and how they affect your personal injury claim.

It must be noted that mental and emotional injuries may not be immediately apparent after the accident. In a number of cases mental and emotional injuries have been known to ‘lurk’ under the surface for months or even years until the sufferer gets treatment. Mental and emotional injuries are known as pain and suffering in personal injury litigation. According to the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, pain and suffering is defined as the “physical or emotional distress resulting from an injury... The injured person can seek compensation in the form of... cash.”

Mental and emotional injuries can be mild to extremely serious and can include problems such as:

Mental anguish

Emotional distress

Fear

Anger

Humiliation

Anxiety

Shock

Embarrassment

Even individuals who are affected by mild cases of mental or emotional distress can experience the following symptoms:


Bouts of crying

Severe anger

Loss of appetite

Weight fluctuations

Lack of energy

Sexual dysfunction or loss of interest in sex

Mood swings

Sleep disturbances


One article stated that, “a mild case of mental or emotional distress might go away relatively quickly but a more severe case might require professional medical or psychological assistance”. 

In more severe cases of mental and emotional injuries there may be specific diagnosis such as acute stress disorder or even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With regards to PTSD, the patient keeps replaying the accident over and over in their head or begin to fear certain types of driving situations. In some cases PTSD can become paralyzing for individuals who do not get help sooner than later.

In order to get compensation for any type of injury you have sustained in a car accident, including mental and emotional injuries, it is necessary to provide proof. In order to prove mild mental anguish or emotional distress in a lawsuit the plaintiff will just tell the jury what happened to them. However, with more severe mental and emotional injuries, because they require medical attention, proof must be provided through medical testimony, such proof is provided by the plaintiff’s mental health provider who testifies as to the diagnosis.

When it comes to compensation insurance companies and juries accept claims for mental and emotional injuries as long as the mental injury claims are not out of proportion to the physical injury claims and/or to the severity of the accident. To illustrate: if an individual is involved in a mild fender-bender and suffers no more than a neck sprain but claims severe mental anguish and emotional distress with the full range of symptoms, an insurer is not going to compensate such claims and neither will a jury. In addition, it must be noted that even if the claimed mental and emotional injury is proportional to the physical injuries the insurer and jury are less likely to accept the injury if that person did not get any treatment for it.

For legal advice and representation from the best accident lawyer in Wasilla contact a law firm of renowned professionals.

About the company:
Crowson Law Group is a law firm of renowned professionals who focus on personal injury matters including those related to car accidents. For a car accident attorney in Wasilla contact Crowson Law Group Wasilla office.