The Psychological Effects of An Injury
May 20, 2020
Anytime someone sustains a severe injury that was caused by the careless or negligent actions of another person, it is inevitable that they are going to deal with a certain level of pain and suffering. However, while most people focus on the physical injuries that a victim sustains, it also needs to be pointed out that these injuries can also have significant psychological effects on a victim.
How does an injury affect our mental and emotional well-being?
While relatively minor injuries can often be managed with little to no disruption in our work activities or daily life activities, more severe injuries can create substantial psychological, cognitive, and emotional damage. All of the various types of accidents can lead to significant emotional trauma for a victim:
- Car accidents
- Physical assaults
- Sports injuries
- Commercial truck accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Accidental falls
In general, the more an accident and subsequent injuries alter a victim’s ability to live a normal life, the more likely it victim two develop various symptoms and disorders such as anxiety, panic attacks, depression, anger, isolation, lack of motivation, substance abuse issues, insomnia, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Not only do these symptoms and disorders affect a person’s daily life, but research from the Behavioral Medicine, Health Psychology, and Psychoneuroimmunology shows that there is a connection between injury victims’ positive mind-body connection with the speed and rate of recovery from their injuries.
Even when an injury victim reaches maximum medical recovery and is able to more or less return to daily activities and work, the lingering psychological effects of the injury can leave a lasting impact. They can affect an injury victim’s long-term health, well beyond the point they have recovered physically.
What kind of damages are available for this kind of injury?
In general, injury victims who are harmed by the careless or negligent actions of other people can expect to receive compensation for their expenses. Economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages are not very difficult to properly calculate and present to an insurer or a jury for a settlement or verdict. However, the psychological effects of an injury are often classified as non-economic damages and are harder to calculate.
However, it is not uncommon for injury victims to obtain compensation for various types of non-economic damages. Often called emotional distress damages or pain and suffering damages, this can include compensation for a person’s:
- Fear
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Humiliation
- Sleep loss
- PTSD
- and more
It is vital that a personal injury victim accurately documents their emotional distress damages. In addition to your physical injuries, a doctor needs to know about any psychological symptoms you are experiencing due to your injuries. This ensures that these symptoms and suffering are part of the medical record. Victims should also keep a diary or journal keeping a daily account of how they are feeling in the aftermath of an accident.
You may need to speak to a skilled attorney to help properly prove and calculate your total emotional distress damages. At Aitken * Aitken * Cohn, we have extensive experience helping clients get compensation for the psychological effects of their injuries. You can contact us for a free consultation of your case by clicking here or by calling 855-904-1851.