Is Psychological Injury Considered a Personal Injury?
While personal injury cases usually involve physical injuries, did you know that you can also claim compensation for psychological suffering?
Personal injury lawsuits can thus help accident and intentional harm victims claim compensation for pain and suffering, aside from physical damages. It may thus help you receive more benefits, especially if your psychological condition has reduced your quality of life and requires treatments.
However, unlike physical injuries, it’s challenging to calculate the monetary value of pain and suffering. It’s thus crucial to know how to prove your deserved compensation for psychological injuries when filing a personal injury claim.
Understanding Psychological Injuries in Personal Injury Lawsuits
Psychological injuries are conditions that an accident victim or intentional harm victim may sustain from their traumatic experience. It may cause severe emotional and mental symptoms like:
- Pain
- Emotional distress
- Mental problems
- Humiliation
- Loss of companionship and consortium
For example, surviving a car crash could induce avoidance trauma, wherein unreasonable fears would prevent you from driving or riding vehicles. Another example is sustaining post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a robber points a gun at you, even without causing you physical harm.
These conditions can reduce your quality of life as they may induce emotional, mental, and behavioral changes. Examples are:
- Inability to go to work because you fear riding vehicles
- Inability to complete office tasks because of forgetfulness
- Unreasonable anxiety and nervousness preventing you from socializing with friends
- Becoming irritated and prone to anger outbursts
The law thus allows you to claim compensation for non-physical suffering as these conditions can result in significant losses.
However, you must prove the extent of your condition to win your deserved benefits. Consulting a Glendale personal injury lawyer will help prove your psychological injuries.
Proving Psychological Conditions in a Personal Injury Claim
Determining the monetary value of pain and suffering is challenging as they don’t have physical evidence you may present in court.
For example, physical damage may involve noticeable injuries like body part disfigurement, and you can also present laboratory test results in court. However, psychological conditions are physically unnoticeable, and their symptoms don’t show in laboratory test results.
You thus have to present the correct solid evidence to prove pain and suffering when claiming benefits, like:
1. Psychiatric Evaluation Report
Remember that expert statements are valuable when claiming compensation. So, secure sufficient documents from your psychiatrist or psychologist that you can present in settlements or trials.
Truthfully tell your psychiatrist about the symptoms you experience, and they can write it down in a professional report.
They can also prescribe appropriate therapies and medications. You can then use prescriptions and medication receipts as evidence that you are undergoing treatment.
2. Personal and Witness Statements
While personal statements can’t serve as solid evidence for pain and suffering, they can still support your claim if they match your psychiatric report.
A good example is a personal journal describing how your condition affects your daily life. For instance, you may describe severe anxiety and how it prevents you from going to work and socializing with friends.
You may also collect witness statements from your family, friends, coworkers, and employer. For example, they could prove your condition caused you to become forgetful and thus unable to perform your usual tasks.
Hire a Personal Injury Attorney in Glendale to Prove Psychological Injuries
A psychological condition is significantly challenging to prove in a personal injury claim.
However, you deserve compensation for the pain and suffering you experience because of somebody’s negligent or intentional act. So, you should pursue non-economic damage in your lawsuit.
A Glendale personal injury lawyer will help prove psychological injuries and claim your deserved economic and non-economic compensation.