Many people think about dealing with physical pain after a car accident, but emotional and mental issues can also follow a car accident victim throughout their life. Physical injuries, like facial injuries, can heal over time. However, emotional damage in the form of emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and travel anxiety can linger throughout a person’s life and reduce their quality of life.
A car accident victim can pursue compensation for emotional and mental issues through non-economic damages in a car accident claim. An experienced car accident lawyer can help them prove they suffered emotionally from the car accident and put them in a position to receive compensation for damages like pain and suffering, emotional anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Car Accidents Can Cause More Than Just Physical Injuries
Car accidents are known to cause significant physical injuries to victims due to the intense trauma from the impact of a car accident. Some physical injuries caused by car accidents, such as broken bones, back and neck injuries, and shoulder injuries, can result in acute symptoms that can cause intense pain, loss of body part functioning, and an inability to do daily tasks.
However, these physical car accident injuries will heal over time through medication, surgery, or physical therapy. Emotional and mental issues caused by a car accident can linger and cause significant distress and trauma throughout a person’s life. Emotional problems that crop up after a car accident can reduce a person’s standard of living, cause depression and anxiety, and affect a person’s ability to hold meaningful relationships.
Car Accident Victims Can Experience Emotional Distress
Following a car accident, victims can suffer emotional distress that can interrupt their daily lives. The emotional pain of going through a traumatic incident like a car accident can allow feelings of depression and anxiety to set in. The mental impact of a car accident can cause someone to avoid social situations, such as work, school, or hanging out with friends. These mental challenges presented by the trauma of a car accident can cause a reduced quality of life that can persist, especially if the victim suffers from a physical injury that reminds them of the car accident.
The following are some of the symptoms associated with emotional distress from a car accident:
- Depression and anxiety
- Mood swings
- Fearfulness
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of interest in hobbies
- Sleeping issues
- Fits of rage
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Caused by a Car Accident
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most common form of mental suffering caused by a car accident and involves the emotional trauma associated with a traumatic event. Those who have PTSD can experience unsettling memories of the event, dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event, and physical reactions to reminders of the event.
Although PTSD is mostly associated with soldiers returning from war, violent and intense car accidents can also trigger PTSD, as victims struggle with the memories and reminders of the traumatic car accident. According to research by the National Institute of Mental Health, about 39.2% of survivors of motor vehicle accidents suffer from some form of PTSD. This mental disorder can cause car accident victims to retreat from society to avoid situations that can trigger harmful memories of the traumatic car accident.
Car Accidents Can Cause a Victim to Experience Travel Anxiety
One of the ways the trauma of a serious car accident can affect a person is by providing them with travel anxiety, which is the fear of commuting in a motor vehicle. This can manifest in many ways, such as anxiety as you think about going in the car, panic attacks while in the car, and trouble breathing during a commute.
The negative effects caused by a car accident can result in people not wanting to go in the car at all for fear of another traumatic car accident. This can affect their ability to hold a job, go to school, and enjoy activities outside of the house. Like other mental and emotional issues following a car accident, someone suffering from travel anxiety may require therapy and medication to overcome the negative feelings associated with motor vehicle travel.
Hire a Car Accident Attorney to Help You Pursue Compensation for Your Emotional Trauma
A negligent driver can commit reckless driving actions, such as distracted driving, speeding, or drunk driving, and cause a car accident they can be held liable for. By filing a car accident claim, you could pursue compensation for damages, such as medical bills, property damage, and lost wages. Most people may think of damages in a car accident claim as economic damages, but you can also pursue compensation for non-economic damages that reflect how your quality of life was affected. Emotional and mental issues can result in a car accident victim requiring medical treatment through therapy and medication, which can increase the cost of medical bills.
Hiring a car accident lawyer with experience in helping victims with emotional and mental issues after a car accident can make the car accident claims process easier. They will know how to calculate your non-economic damage and assign a value to the emotional and mental suffering you’ve had to endure. An experienced car accident attorney can also negotiate a fair settlement with the at-fault party’s insurance company, minimizing any attempt to deny, delay, or devalue your claim. Your best chance of recovering fair compensation for your mental and emotional trauma caused by a car accident is by hiring an experienced car accident lawyer.
Contact The Russo Firm Today for Help With Your Car Accident Claim
If you suffered from emotional and mental issues after a car accident, the experienced car accident lawyers at The Russo Firm can help you pursue compensation for your non-economic damages. Our lawyers have over 100 years of combined experience assisting car accident victims across the United States, such as in cities like Tampa, New Orleans, and Dallas. Our car accident attorneys can help put you in a position to recover fair compensation for your emotional damages by assessing the full value of your damages, determining the liable party, and collecting evidence to prove the emotional issues caused by the at-fault party’s negligence.
The Russo Firm’s personal injury lawyers offer free consultations to all personal injury victims to allow them to see how we can use our experience and vast resources to help them recover compensatory damages. Contact us for a free consultation at (561) 270-0913 or leave a message on our online contact page.
