Are You Crying and Sad After an Accident?

Car accidents don’t just leave physical injuries with bruises and broken bones that you can see, they also leave injuries that might not be known for a while after the accident.

The emotional impact or trauma can be just as bad as any physical injuries.

Unfortunately these injuries are much harder to diagnose and treat.

You might not even know that you’re suffering from emotional trauma.

You may even just think this is a short term response to a bad situation, not an injury or illness related to the accident that might need medical intervention.

But just like physical injuries, emotional injuries need to be diagnosed and treated by a licensed professional.

After an accident people tend to seek medical attention for their physical injuries and most emotional injuries are left untreated.

If you find yourself in an emotional state after an accident don’t ignore the symptoms, seek medical treatment for your emotional injuries ASAP.

Symptoms of Emotional Distress After an Accident

Physical injuries for the most part you can see and be diagnosed by a medical professional.

Emotional trauma is harder to notice and may go unnoticed and untreated for a while.

If you notice the following symptoms you should seek help immediately.

PTSD – This is a serious medical condition that can cause disturbing flashbacks and thoughts with severe triggers that can debilitate emotional states.

Depression– This is common in accident victims and family members of accident victims. Depression comes in many forms including fits of crying, wanting to just stay in bed and not wanting to be around others.

Anxiety– The symptoms of anxiety can include panic attacks, social anxiety, separation anxiety. The physical symptoms of anxiety can be crying, panic, shaking, and tremendous fear of certain situations.

Sleep issues- Stress or anxiety can also lead to sleep disorders, night terrors, nightmares, and other sleep disturbances.

Substance abuse– If emotional trauma is not dealt with a person might turn to alcohol and drugs to self medicate. If you notice you’ve begun to drink too much or start to take too much medication this could be a sign of emotional trauma.

If you experience any of these symptoms you should seek help from a mental health professional and get treatment for your emotional trauma.

Treatments for Mental Health Issues After Accident?

There are many ways to treat emotional trauma after an accident including:

Seek medical attention- Seeing a medical professional is the first step in getting diagnosed and treated for an emotional disorder after an accident. You may be referred to a mental health counselor and prescribed medication by a doctor. You may also be sent to see a therapist.
Support groups- After an accident a support group can be a good source of strength and comfort. Since support groups are people in the same situation they can give you a sense of community and understanding.
Coping skills- Some coping skills may be things like breathing exercises, acknowledging the feelings that are happening, staying active in an exercise you enjoy and other forms of self care.
Identify triggers- PTSD comes with triggers, these are sounds, smells , and sights that cause an emotional response from memories of the accident. For example going past the place the accident occurred can result in triggers. Being able to identify the triggers and avoid them or using coping skills to deal with them is a form of dealing with your emotional trauma.

Just like getting medical attention for physical injuries, you should seek medical attention for emotional trauma as well.

Recover Damages for Emotional Injuries After Accident in Nevada

Nevada recognizes emotional distress as a legal cause of action, and you can seek compensation for emotional injuries and reduced quality of life.

To recover damages you must be able to prove that you suffered emotional distress or injuries as a result of another person’s intentional or reckless actions.

The actions must cause extreme distress emotionally and physically.

You must be the direct victim, bystander who witnessed the accident, or directly related to the victim to recover compensation for emotional distress.

Besides physical injuries you can recover compensation for:

Anxiety
Depression
PTSD
Pain and Suffering
Disfigurement and Scarring
Cognitive impairment

Nevada recognizes that emotional distress is an actual injury.

But it is much harder to prove and quantify since there are no real physical ailments that can be seen with emotional distress.

Even though emotional injuries do have physical symptoms like crying, loss of weight, or anxiety, these are only symptoms of emotional distress and not actual injuries so proving emotional distress can be difficult.

You should always seek legal counsel even just for a consultation to see if they can help prove that you have emotional trauma from the accident.

Prove Emotional Distress After an Accident

Like we have said, emotional distress is much harder to prove than physical injuries.

You must be able to prove that the emotional distress you are suffering is directly related to the accident.

Some of the ways to prove emotional distress are:

Medical records- Always keep any documentation from doctors that show diagnoses, medications and treatment plans

Expert testimony– If your case ends up in court or even during negotiations expert mental health professionals can examine you and provide opinions and testimony of your emotional distress.

Personal testimony– In most cases you may be examined by a mental health professional but you can also give your account of what your experience has been since the accident.

Witness testimony– People like friends and family can testify to what you were like before and after the accident.

Diary entries– Documentation is key, so after an accident you may want to keep a journal documenting your experience after the accident.

How Much can You Recover for Emotional Distress?

Putting a dollar amount on any accident injury is difficult, but emotional distress is much harder to quantify.

All cases are different so you should consult with a lawyer before attempting to settle any accident claim.

You must be able to prove that the accident caused severe emotional damage.

To get a dollar amount for emotional distress there are several ways to go about it.

The per-diem method- This involves multiplying a daily dollar amount by the number of days you have suffered your emotional injuries.
Daily wages- Daily wages of the victims current employment may be used to calculate an emotional distress compensation value.

Nevada does not have a set amount of damages that a victim can recover for emotional distress.

A jury can decide the amount based on the facts of the case.