Life can change in the blink of an eye. One moment, you’re going about your day, and the next, you’re involved in an accident that leaves you with not only physical injuries but also emotional scars. These unseen wounds—fear, anxiety, and despair—can linger long after the physical injuries have subsided.
If you’ve been in an accident, the emotional toll can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, emotional distress is often overlooked in personal injury claims, even though it can be just as debilitating as any physical injury.
At Savage, Royall & Sheheen, LLP, our experienced Camden personal injury lawyers believe your emotional suffering deserves acknowledgment and compensation. As your personal injury lawyer for emotional distress, we’re here to ensure the pain and suffering damages for emotional distress are not an afterthought but a critical part of your claim.
We understand that emotional distress damages aren’t easy to quantify, but they are a real and significant part of your healing journey. You’re not alone in this. We’re here to help you every step of the way.
Understanding Emotional Distress in Personal Injury Law
When people think about personal injury cases, the focus often falls on physical injuries—broken bones, cuts, and bruises. Yet, the injuries that aren’t seen can be just as painful and disruptive. Emotional distress is a very real and often overlooked consequence of accidents or personal injuries.
“Emotional distress” is the negative psychological impact of a traumatic event. In personal injury law, it’s often called “mental anguish.” After an accident, a person may experience emotional distress for various reasons, including:
- The shock and trauma of the accident
- The physical pain caused by their injuries
- The impact of disability or disfigurement on their ability to work, enjoy hobbies, or travel
- The effect of the accident and injuries on their social life
- The sense of injustice due to the negligence of the at-fault party
- Difficulty managing emotions, especially if a traumatic brain injury is involved
- Survivor’s guilt, particularly if they lost a loved one in the accident
This distress can manifest in many forms—sleepless nights, a lingering sense of fear every time you pass the accident site, or anxiety that bubbles up when doing everyday activities.
Proving Emotional Distress in a Personal Injury Case
Proving emotional distress involves demonstrating that the negligence of the at-fault party directly led to your psychological suffering. This is not always straightforward, but certain types of evidence can significantly strengthen your claim including the following:
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Medical Records
These should detail any mental health treatments you’ve undergone since the accident, establishing a clear link between the incident and your psychological suffering.
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Expert Testimony
Input from therapists, psychiatrists, or psychologists who have treated you can provide professional insights into the severity and causes of your distress.
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Prescriptions
Documentation of any psychiatric medications prescribed post-accident can serve as evidence of the necessity of medical intervention for your mental health.
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Formal Diagnoses
Getting diagnosed with a condition such as PTSD, phobia, or depression by a qualified professional can substantiate the extent and nature of your emotional distress.
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Personal Documentation or Journals
Personal documentation can include a log of nightmares, instances of anxiety attacks, or noticeable changes in behavior that link back to the accident.
Personal journals describe your mental anguish in detail and can provide a personal perspective on the depth of your suffering.
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Emotional Health Records
Comparisons of your emotional state before and after the accident, possibly noted in medical records or personal journals, can highlight theevent’s impactt.
How Emotional Distress Impacts Compensation
In South Carolina, compensation falls under the broader category of pain and suffering damages for emotional distress. These damages are designed to account for the mental anguish and emotional turmoil you’ve experienced due to the accident. But here’s where it gets tricky—putting a dollar amount on something as personal and subjective as emotional pain is not straightforward.
The courts and insurance companies consider various factors when determining how much compensation should be awarded for emotional distress. They might look at the severity of your emotional suffering, the duration, and how it has impacted your daily life. For example, if you’ve developed PTSD from a car accident, and it has made it difficult for you to work or maintain relationships, this will be taken into account.
Having a skilled attorney by your side is very important for any emotional distress case.
Our personal injury lawyers for emotional distress understand the deep, often invisible wounds that emotional distress can cause. We’ll fight for your suffering to be recognized and the compensation you rightfully deserve.
Challenges in Pursuing Emotional Distress Damages
One of the first hurdles is the skepticism you may encounter. Insurance companies, and sometimes even juries, can be hesitant to acknowledge emotional distress unless it’s accompanied by physical injury. They may view claims of psychological pain as less legitimate or harder to quantify, leading to them undervaluing or outright denying the compensation they deserve.
Additionally, proving the extent of your emotional distress requires detailed and specific evidence. This can include psychiatric records, therapy notes, and sometimes even testimony from mental health professionals. Gathering this evidence is time-consuming and requires revisiting painful emotions and experiences, which can be a distressing process.
Finally, there’s the challenge of linking your emotional distress directly to the incident. The defense might argue that other facts in your life can contribute to your psychological state, muddying the waters and making it difficult to prove a direct causal relationship.
Contact a Camden Personal Injury Lawyer Specializing in Emotional Distress
Facing injuries after an accident is never easy, and the emotional distress that follows can be just as overwhelming as any physical injury.
At Savage, Royall & Sheheen, LLP, we understand that your pain goes beyond the visible wounds. We’re here to help you pursue the emotional distress damages you deserve, ensuring that every aspect of your suffering is acknowledged.
Our firm has a history of over 97 years serving individual clients, community businesses, and local governments. Some of our attorneys have held state government and judicial positions, while others are Rotarians, deeply committed to serving our community.
We take pride in being a small-town firm that can handle the most complex cases involving emotional distress damages. Whether your case involves negotiating with insurance companies or standing up in court, you can trust that our team has the resources, experience, and dedication to see your case through.
Contact our personal injury lawyer for emotional distress at 803-432-4391 for a consultation.