A car accident can cause a lifetime of emotional and mental damage. The scars can stay with you long after your physical injuries heal and may prevent you from living a normal life.
Sadly, most auto accident victims fail to take their emotional and mental problems seriously. They may not understand that psychological effects caused by car accidents can change how one interacts with their loved ones, reduce their quality of life, prevent them from enjoying things they once did, and some even lose their jobs.
If you get involved in a crash, you should concentrate on your health and well-being, get a medical check-up, and proper treatment. Contact a lawyer to file a legal claim for you to get compensation for the damages. An experienced attorney should understand that psychological injuries can be as disastrous as physical ones and hence claim compensation for them.
Emotional Damages Caused by Car Accidents
Emotional damages refer to changes an accident victim goes through or lives with, even though they may not be medically diagnosed. Car accident victims can experience symptoms such as:
- Anxiety
- Mood swings
- Humiliation
- Fear
- Anger
- Lack of sleep
- Lack of appetite
- Disinterest in things that exited them before
- Sadness
Some of these symptoms can interrupt your life, making it difficult to wake up in the morning, as usual, and go to school or work, among other activities. You may avoid getting into a car due to the fear of being involved in another accident. That can prevent you from attending vital medical and work-related appointments and other duties.
Some people experience emotional distress only for a short period, while others may have them for longer, especially before their physical injuries heal. A good car accident lawyer in Atlanta should know how to help you get compensated for the distress, especially if it prevents you from continuing with your normal life.
PTSD After a Car Accident
After a car accident, especially involving extreme violence, some victims may suffer from a mental health condition known as a post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is a severe issue because it causes serious interruption to the victim’s daily life.
Many people with PTSD also experience anxiety disorder or a great fear of driving. Some of the symptoms of PTSD include:
- Flashbacks of the memories of the accident
- Horrific nightmares
- Fear of anything that reminds one of the accidents, especially anything associated with a car
- Withdrawal from other people and depression
- Severe physical and emotional sensations after seeing anything that reminds them of the accident
- Self-harm
A person who has PTSD needs therapy for an extended duration. They may also need medications until they start living a normal life. The treatment costs for mental conditions can be the same or more expensive than those for physical injuries.
How to Get Compensation for Emotional and Mental Damages From Car Accidents
You could get compensation for a car accident if it happened because of the driver’s negligence or any other deliberate wrongful behavior. Most victims pursue monetary compensation such as medical expenses, unpaid wages, and disability costs.
The lawyer you hire can seek compensation for the economic damages based on their specific costs. However, the attorney can also help you receive compensation for non-economic damages. These are injuries without monetary value that contributed to your suffering after the accident. Some of them include the inability to enjoy life and mental trauma.
The car accident attorney you hire will help you calculate the non-economic damages and get a monetary value to compensate for the emotional and mental car accident effects.
Why You Should Hire a Car Accident Lawyer
Most people don’t know how to file legal claims to help them get proper compensation after a collision. As a car accident victim, an experienced lawyer will negotiate the compensation issues with the at-fault individual’s insurer as you concentrate on healing.
The lawyer will gather all the evidence needed so you can get a reward to help you cater to all expenses incurred and continue with your life.
Irma C. Dengler
With a BA in communications and paralegal experience, Irma C. Dengler decided to make the best of her writing skills. She decided to turn complicated legal matters into something more
palatable for the masses. Therefore, Irma became a law communicator who writes about everyday problems so everyone can understand them and take the appropriate action. She specialized in personal injury cases, as they are more common than anyone thinks, but her areas of expertise also include civil law, criminal law, insurance-related issues, and more.
