When you get an injury after a collision, you suffer emotional damage even more than any physical damage. If you file a successful personal injury lawsuit, emotional distress could be the major component that you usually get compensated for in addition to the compensation you receive as a recovery of your economical or financial losses (lost wages, medical bills, etc.) concerning your personal injuries.
But in order to receive compensation against your emotional distress, you have to work with your personal injury lawyer, so you can prove your losses and hold the at-fault driver liable to sue for emotional distress. But how can you prove emotional distress for a personal injury lawsuit? Can you hold your employer liable for emotional distress? Who can be held responsible for the pain and sufferings you endured after an accident?
What is emotional distress and what defines emotional distress damages?
Emotional distress refers to the sufferings that you go through emotionally after an unforgiving or severe event such as a personal injury accident. It is a class of injury that is included in the compensation claims in your personal injury lawsuit.
Emotional distress damages are considered to be compensated for the psychological impacts you have as a result of your injury(ies) on your routine life. The list that demonstrates the emotional distress and the impacts can be varied and long.
Loss of sound sleep, humiliation, anxiety, fears, and depression are some of the symptoms of emotional distress. There’s not a concise definition of emotional distress damages but if you’ve started experiencing psychological issues after an accident, you must note them as you can claim compensation against it. Your issues may not be distress to someone else and vice versa, so you should keep a check on your mental health and every aspect you find that is impacted.
Documenting emotional distress
If your injuries and sufferings have come to a level where they have spurred you to make a compensation claim, it’s probable that you already have started seeking medical treatment. You must tell your doctor about the psychological symptoms that you are experiencing after the accident along with your physical injuries.
It’s always a better idea to record changes that you may experience on a daily basis. Plus, note down how the injuries and emotional distress have affected you in the light of the accident. For receiving a higher amount of compensation, you need to provide evidence that will help you to manifest emotional trauma and how you have lost the quality of your life since the accident.
Why does the severity of the emotional distress matter?
Everyone goes through mental trauma and distress to some extent after an injury. So it’s safe to state here that the financial recovery will depend upon the severity of your emotional distress. That’s why it is important to document your mental and emotional conditions that you are experiencing. If possible do consult a medical practitioner.
It’s also essential to prove that the emotional distress you’re experiencing due to the injury/accident is ongoing and will continue to affect the quality of your life.
Intentional infliction of emotional distress
Oftentimes, plaintiffs wish to file a separate claim for the intentional infliction of emotional distress. These are the claims that are less commonly filed than usual emotional distress claims. These claims are filed (especially for vehicular accident cases) when someone believes that the defendant was negligent and deliberately wanted to cause physical or emotional harm.
Many claims for emotional distress require you to suffer physical harm along with emotional distress after the incident. Although, recent personal injury laws have allowed victims to file for claims of emotional distress without providing evidence of physical harm.
The emotional and psychological trauma alone can be the ground for the claim for emotional distress damages, such as sexual assault or kidnapping.
How can you sue for emotional distress?
Suing someone concerning your emotional distress trauma may involve the following steps:
Document everything: You should maintain a personal journal, medical records, work records, etc. to create evidence for your case. You can also use an electronic monitor and health tracker that could measure your blood sugar and heart rate and even sleeping habits. The better and concise your evidence, the easier it will be to claim and recover your damages.
Consult an attorney: Discuss the details with your attorney and hand over the documents to him/her to look for required legal formalities.
File a lawsuit: With the help of a personal injury lawsuit attorney, it will be easier for you to get away with the emotional distress damages and receive the potential financial recovery.
Suing someone could be a long and tiring journey for someone who already is going through trauma and emotional distress. Explore ways how you can efficiently draw someone under the personal injury claims and recover the damages.
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