When you’re involved in an accident due to another party’s negligence, your losses may be more than physical injuries, property damage, and lost wages. You may experience emotional distress, and it’s a loss you can get compensation for to help you recover. At Longo Biggs, Injury Law, we understand how traumatic accidents are and help our clients prove emotional distress to maximize their compensation. Here are five ways a personal injury attorney can prove emotional distress:
What Is Emotional Distress?
A car, boat, motorcycle, or pedestrian accident is a frightening occurrence that causes trauma in some cases. It affects victims emotionally and may cause stress, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. While some people recover within a short time, others take weeks or months. It negatively affects their well-being, professional life, relationships, and school performance. Mental distress is sometimes as serious as physical injuries, necessitating fair compensation to help victims recover. You may need compensation to cover psychiatric appointments and mental health medications. Emotional distress can be challenging to prove, but a skilled personal injury attorney will do everything in their power to demonstrate this aspect and get you compensation.
Five Ways an Attorney Can Prove Emotional Distress
1. Using Psychologist or Therapist Medical Records
If it was a serious accident with severe mental stress, seeking professional help is recommended. A psychologist or psychiatrist deals with mental health issues, and they can help evaluate your trauma and suggest effective coping strategies. These health professionals detail everything about your situation. They note symptoms, how the trauma has affected your daily life, and overall health and well-being. Your personal injury attorney can use these medical records to demonstrate your suffering and fight for monetary assistance to aid recovery. At Longo Biggs, Injury Law, we’re experienced and know how to work with medical professionals to prove health losses and get our clients fair remuneration.
2. Getting Witnesses to Testify
Emotional distress not only affects the victim, but it also affects other people around them. A lawyer can get other people close to you to give their account of how the accident affected you mentally. An example is family members who may have noticed that you’re sleeping too little, not eating as much as you did before the accident, showing anger all the time, and pulling away from people and things you loved. Coworkers or bosses may say how you recently started losing concentration and aren’t as productive as before. Sometimes a lawyer may also get experts to testify, including psychologists, therapists, and other mental health professionals. These specialists can explain their diagnoses and treatments to strengthen your cause. Our lawyer will gather as many witnesses as possible to build a solid case.
3. Using the Victim’s Personal Journal or Diary
Personal injury lawyers recommend having a post-accident diary that details everything from the accident to your current state. Your journal can include how you’ve suffered emotionally. You can detail how you have not been able to eat well, sleep, interact with friends or family, and conduct your daily activities. The diary may also contain emotional distress symptoms like anxiety, panic attacks, mood swings, social isolation, etc.
A qualified personal injury lawyer can use your account of emotional distress to demonstrate your suffering and its intensity. That can help you get the compensation you need to get medical assistance. Besides emotional distress, lawyers recommend including car accident details, injuries and their symptoms, lost wages, medical expenses, and all other aspects relevant to the accident.
4. Providing Evidence of Physical Symptoms of Emotional Distress
Emotional distress not only displays psychological symptoms. It can also show physical symptoms, such as shortness of breath, headaches, body aches, dizziness, and stomach issues. Your general physician can work with your mental health professional to show that these physical symptoms are consistent with emotional distress.
Your personal injury attorney will then present those medical records as evidence to argue your case and fight for a favorable outcome. At Longo Biggs, Injury Law, we understand mental anguish may present itself with physical symptoms. We’ll use these symptoms to get you as much compensation as possible.
5. Presenting Photos or Videos Showing Emotional Distress
In some cases, photos and videos may be available to show your emotional state during distressing moments. An example is a photo or video taken at home showing sudden anger outbursts, crying moments, or panic attacks. A work-related video may show a lack of concentration, confusion, and other symptoms. If you recently had a serious vehicle accident, your lawyer can argue those symptoms are consistent with that traumatic experience. The photos and videos can help prove your claim, allowing your lawyer to fight for the maximum possible remuneration.
Get a Personal Injury Attorney
Vehicle accidents, dog bites, chemical exposures, medical malpractices, and other incidents can cause mental harm to their victims. Emotional distress can negatively impact work, school, relationships, and everyday life. At Longo Biggs, Injury Law, we will get as much evidence as possible to prove emotional distress and fight for fair compensation. We will get witnesses, medical records, journal entries, and digital evidence to prove your case. Contact us today for a thorough evaluation of your situation.
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