Stress, Anxiety, And Depression: Blame It On Your Auto Accident

Even the most mentally healthy people can suffer from the effects of an automobile accident. It's extremely common and understandable to feel stressed out as a result of another driver's careless actions. Just like your medical expenses and wrecked vehicle, your mental health can be an important form of damage. You can be compensated for the way an accident has affected you mentally as long as you know what to do. To learn more, read on.

Mental Health Issues: A Form of Non-economic Damage

Vehicle accident victims are owed compensation if they end up physically injured and if the other driver was at fault. The compensation is divided into economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages include things that are closely associated with a specific sum of money. That might include your medical expenses or lost wages. Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are not as easily calculated since they are not based on specific things. How, for example, can you put a price on your pain and suffering?

Mental Health Issues Equal Pain and Suffering

Don't assume that this form of damage is anything new. Pain and suffering covers all the stress, anxiety, mood swings, sleepless nights, and eating problems that can happen after a stressful event like a car accident. The way pain and suffering is paid depends on several factors, and there is no single way to calculate this form of damage. Some insurers pay victims a certain sum of money per day since the date of the accident. Others use a more complex calculation that involves using factors and multiplying the total of medical expenses. In most cases, pain and suffering is based, in part, on the seriousness of the victim's physical injuries and the treatment costs. The theory being that more serious injuries can create more pain and suffering.

Proving Your Pain and Suffering

All aspects of your personal injury case require proof, and your pain and suffering damages do too. As soon as you can, speak to a personal injury lawyer about your case. Ask the lawyer specifically about your mental health issues and find out how they want you to proceed. Some lawyers ask their clients to keep a journal, sometimes called a pain journal, to record the mental health issues that have surfaced as they recover. Your pain and suffering, as long as your injuries are considerable, can be part of your settlement and will be paid to you along with all the other forms of damage.

To find out more about this important part of your case, speak to a personal injury lawyer.

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