Car collisions can dramatically disrupt your life, and they may cause major problems such as physical injuries and financial consequences. You may also experience severe emotional distress after a wreck. You may feel afraid to drive again, experience nightmares or begin having constant symptoms of depression or anxiety.
The emotional damages you have experienced are just as real as your physical injuries, and the emotional consequences may linger long after your physical injuries heal. If your physical injuries are catastrophic, you’ll have a lot to process emotionally. It may be possible to obtain compensation for the emotional pain and suffering you’ve experienced because of your car collision.
Signs of Emotional Distress
When you’re injured in a serious motor vehicle collision, it’s natural to feel sad about the impact the crash has had on your life. You may have lost the ability to work for a short time, or possibly long-term or even permanently. You may be experiencing physical pain that you didn’t have to deal with before the crash and you may have difficulty doing simple everyday activities.
While it’s normal to feel down about what happened, some people also struggle with painful feelings that are very difficult to overcome. Painful emotions can make your situation even harder to take. Some of the symptoms of emotional distress include:
- Irritability or mood swings
- Feelings of extreme sadness or hopelessness
- Extreme anxiety or terror
- Insomnia, nightmares or other sleep disturbances
- Social withdrawal
Proving Emotional Distress
In order to try to obtain compensation for the emotional symptoms you’ve been experiencing, you’ll need to gather evidence. This evidence should include medical records that describe the bodily harm that you’ve suffered, the duration and intensity of your physical pain, doctors’ statements and medications prescribed.
It’s important to communicate with your doctor or a mental health professional that you’ve been experiencing distressing feelings since your collision. You’ll need to closely follow any treatment plan they recommend. To have an emotional distress claim, you’ll have to be able to prove:
- Your emotional distress continues to affect your quality of life and isn’t a passing occurrence
- The other driver’s actions caused your emotional distress
- Your emotional symptoms are medically significant
Categories of Emotional Distress
The distressing emotional symptoms you’re experiencing fall under the category known as pain and suffering. Emotional distress is further broken down into the following categories:
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress – if your collision was caused by someone who deliberately meant to inflict harm, it would be considered intentional. In this type of collision, any reasonable person would know that the actions taken would result in emotional distress to the injured party.
- Negligent infliction – in this case, the emotional distress was caused by negligent actions on the part of the other driver rather than intentional actions.
- Loss of consortium – You may be able to obtain compensation for the loss of a spouse or parent due to the actions of the other driver and the emotional distress it caused.
Getting Legal Advice
If you’ve been injured in a collision caused by another driver’s negligence or deliberately malicious actions, you deserve to be compensated. Besides the costs of medical bills and lost wages, you may be entitled to compensation for the emotional distress you’ve experienced.
It may be difficult to prove pain and suffering or emotional distress on your own without the guidance of an expert in the field of personal injury law. Contact Taos Injury Lawyers by completing the form on this page. Let’s discuss the severity of your injuries and whether you may have a claim for pain and suffering including emotional distress.