If you have been in an accident, you already know that apart from the physical injuries, it can cause long-term emotional pain. On that note, you might as well experience trauma based on what you saw, felt, or first-hand experience. This aspect perfectly explains why many people suffer from PTSD even years after being in an accident.
One of the most challenging things to do is to overcome the emotional distress caused by the incident.
The Core Issue of Suing for Emotional Distress
One of the main challenges of suing for emotional distress is that it is incredibly difficult to place financial value on the emotional pain that you might be experiencing. When it comes to physical injuries, such as a broken bone, it is easier to put a financial value on medical bills, hospital bills, lost wages, etc.
On the other hand, emotional trauma isn’t as evident as physical trauma. Besides, the severity of emotional trauma is different for each individual. However, this aspect doesn’t mean that you do not qualify for compensation for the emotional distress that you experienced.
The Complexity of An Emotional Distress Case
The process of suing for emotional distress happens to be so much more complicated as compared to physical injury cases. So, if you have suffered a serious loss, such as the death of your loved one due to someone else’s negligence, you should work closely with one of the best Wrongful Death Lawyers, who can help you get a fair settlement.
The lawyer can also guide you and support you throughout your recovery process, which is why you should hire an attorney immediately.
What Falls into the Category of Emotional Distress?
In simple words, emotional distress is also known as mental anguish. Mostly, emotional distress is a psychological injury. Emotional distress refers to the mental state of suffering that is essentially caused by someone else’s negligence or intentional actions. The cause of emotional distress can be a person, but it can also be a business or an organization.
Emotional distress can also result from a physical accident or trauma. It is important to mention here that emotional distress isn’t necessarily caused by the person who experienced physical injury – but it can also be felt by a bystander or a witness.
A typical scenario is when you witness losing a family member due to a doctor’s negligence or someone else’s actions, such as murder. Witnessing the death of a loved one that is not caused naturally can have serious emotional consequences for the witness.
The Importance of Talking to A Psychologist
If you have been in an incident that has caused you mental and emotional distress, the best thing you can do is to speak to a psychologist and get professional help to process what happened and what you can do to cope with it.
Also, the psychologist can help you remember things that your brain might have suppressed because of trauma. Make sure to keep a record of your appointments with the psychologist, as your attorney might refer to them later in court.
The Importance of Writing the Incident Down
If you want to press charges for emotional distress, it is in your best interest to journal about it. There are many benefits to journaling, including the fact that it enables you to get it all out of your system. However, the main reason why you might need to write everything down is so that you can remember what happened, when it happened, and how it happened.
The thing about memory is that you might remember things today, but you might have trouble recalling things a few weeks, months, or years later down the road. So, keep your notebook with you so you can journal and write down the details of the incident as you remember them.
Potential Examples that Might Require a Distress Lawsuit
Various incidents can cause an emotional distress lawsuit. Car accidents and resulting injuries aren’t the only cause for emotional distress lawsuits. There are other incidents that can potentially lead to PTSD or chronic fear and, as a result, delimit the lives of the affected individuals.
Severe emotional distress can also affect one’s ability to enjoy life, work, and socialize. However, none of such emotional distress and fears will show up on medical records, which is where the importance of distress lawsuits comes in.
Medical Malpractice Incident
A potential example that can cause emotional distress is when the individual experiences or witnesses medical malpractice. You might become part of medical treatment or medicine that is not suitable for your illness or situation.
You can also be a victim of medical malpractice if your medical healthcare provider doesn’t stick to the expected medical treatment guidelines, and subsequently, you suffer serious health issues.
Wrongful Death Incident
If your loved one is ill and becomes a victim of medical malpractice or negligence to the point of losing their life – this example also calls for an emotional distress lawsuit.
You might as well be the witness of a homicide where you see your loved one die caused by the action of someone else. You might as well have watched a person suffer after they were fatally injured in an accident.
The truth is that some people can develop serious PTSD after witnessing such events. Watching one’s loved one pass away due to injury or pain can be an incredibly traumatic experience.
Abuse in Nursing Home
Yes- you read this right. There are two case scenarios here: you might witness nursing home abuse, or you might leave your aging loved one in the care of a nursing home only to find signs of emotional and physical trauma inflicted on them. A Very common example of this would be bed sores that the elderly can develop due to nursing home abuse or negligence.
There are also instances where elderly people lost their lives due to the negligence of the staff members of the nursing home. Sometimes, the elderly loved ones are embarrassed to the point that they might not even communicate the incident to their family members during their visits.
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