Does a Personal Injury Claim Include Mental Health?

Provided by ForensisGroup – creating a more just world with their expert witness services

The Impact of Accidents on Mental Health

Personal injury claims are often associated with physical injuries. It’s easy to see that a car accident caused a broken arm. While physical injuries are readily apparent in many cases, the mental health aspects of personal injuries are often overlooked. These invisible scars can be just as debilitating, if not more so, than their physical counterparts.

An accident can significantly impact an individual’s mental health. The emotional toll they exact, including trauma, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, is very real, and accident victims deserve compensation for this suffering.

A personal injury claim seeks compensation for damages incurred, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other related mental health-related costs.

Common Mental Health Injuries Suffered After an Accident

Some of the most common mental health injuries suffered after an accident include:

• Emotional Trauma: Witnessing or experiencing a traumatic accident can lead to emotional trauma. The shock and horror of the event can haunt individuals long after their physical injuries have healed. Flashbacks, nightmares, and constant unease can become part of everyday life for accident survivors.
• Anxiety: The aftermath of an accident can be a breeding ground for anxiety. Fears of similar incidents, worries about the future, and apprehension about recovery can all contribute to heightened anxiety levels. Daily activities that were once routine may now induce anxiety and panic attacks.
• Depression: Coping with the aftermath of an accident can often lead to a deep sense of sadness and hopelessness. Individuals may struggle to find joy in life and experience a loss of interest in activities they once enjoyed. This prolonged despair can evolve into clinical depression, requiring professional intervention.
• Post-Traumatic Stress: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a recognized psychological condition that can stem from accidents. It can manifest as intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, severe anxiety, and overwhelming dread. For some, the trauma of the accident may replay in their minds, causing severe distress.

Emotional Injuries and Personal Injury Claims

Personal injury claims have traditionally focused on physical harm resulting from accident or negligence. This is largely because visible injuries are easier to see and prove to insurance companies and courts.

However, courts believe that victims who suffer emotional trauma, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress resulting from accidents deserve compensation for their suffering.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to prove that mental health issues resulted from the accident. After all, many individuals already suffer from anxiety or depression.

Build Your Mental Health Injury Claim With Expert Witnesses

Unlike physical injuries, which often come with straightforward medical bills and treatment plans, emotional suffering defies easy measurement. There are no fixed formulas or standardized scales to assess the extent of mental health damage. As a result, courts and legal professionals often turn to a crucial resource in these cases: expert witnesses.

Psychiatric and psychological experts can help validate your claim by diagnosing and assessing your mental health. Through comprehensive evaluations, they can pinpoint the nature and extent of your emotional suffering.

Expert witnesses also provide testimony that helps judges and juries understand how the accident has affected your mental health. They offer insights into the intricacies of psychological trauma, anxiety disorders, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Their testimony humanizes the emotional suffering endured by the claimant, making it tangible and relatable to those responsible for rendering a verdict.

Gather More Evidence to Support Your Mental Health Injury Claim

Your personal injury attorney will also need to gather other evidence to support your mental health claims. First, they’ll collect your mental health medical records. These records create a clear timeline of your mental health journey. They contain diagnoses, treatment plans, therapy sessions, and medications. In simple terms, they show that you’re not making this up – you’ve got professional help and paperwork to prove it.

But what if you already suffered from mental health issues before the accident? These records don’t just focus on the present; they dig into your past, too. If you had any mental health issues before the accident, they’ll document that. This helps figure out if the accident made things worse or caused entirely new problems.

In addition to medical records, your attorney may want to interview your family and friends. These witness testimonies are real-life stories that speak volumes about how the accident affected you.

These witnesses could be friends, family, coworkers, or even people who know you casually. They’ve seen you before and after the accident, and they can tell the court how things changed. Witness testimony helps squash any doubts about whether your mental health issues are legit. When people who know you well vouch for your emotional struggles, it adds a layer of trustworthiness to your claim.

Contact Our San Bernardino Personal Injury Lawyers Today

If you or someone you love suffered mental anguish or PTSD after a San Bernardino accident, we can help you collect the compensation you deserve. The personal injury attorneys at William D. Shapiro Law, Inc. know that insurance companies don’t always believe accident victims when they claim mental health injuries or issues after an accident. That’s why we fight back aggressively by building a solid case that proves your mental and emotional pain and suffering.

Our lawyers would like to meet with you for a free initial consultation and review. We can answer your questions and give you legal guidance during this meeting. Call (909) 890-1000 or complete our confidential contact form today.

​​This article is intended to be a general overview, not a complete statement of the law applicable to all situations. As the facts of each case are different, we urge all to consult an attorney without delay to fully understand what law applies in your case.”