After being involved in an accident, physical injuries might be apparent. What about the emotional damage? The physical wounds heal, but anxiety, depression, or even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can linger. Read along if you wonder if you can sue for emotional distress in a personal injury claim.
Emotional Distress Overview
A traumatic event can cause a form of psychological harm called emotional distress. This can keep you sleepless, anxious, or feeling overwhelmed with emotions.
If someone else’s negligence causes harm or emotional distress to you, you can bring an ’emotional distress’ claim. These invisible injuries are just as bad as physical ones. Alaska law allows victims to recover damages for emotional distress in personal injury claims. Consult a personal injury lawyer after a car accident if you suffer psychologically.
What is Emotional Distress?
Emotional distress can be purposively inflicted or it can be negligently inflicted, the two types usually referred to as NIED and IIED.
NIED refers to emotional suffering that a plaintiff may suffer when the defendant’s negligence is involved in the defendant’s conduct regardless of whether harm was inflicted intentionally or purposely. An instance may be, after a car accident caused due to caretaker negligence by someone else, i.e., their anxiety towards the event, or post traumatic stress disorder; such situations may be categorised as NIED.
On the other hand, IIED occurs when the defendant’s actions are so extreme and outrageous that the defendant intentionally causes you emotional harm. For example, if someone threatened or harassed you psychologically after an accident and caused you psychological trauma deliberately.
In either case, proving emotional distress is not as simple as establishing a broken bone or a bruise. The severity of your condition usually needs expert testimony and documentation from mental health professionals to build your case. For example, a psychologist, therapist, or doctor.
How Do You File a Claim for Emotional Distress?
Documentation is the first step to filing an emotional distress claim. Physical injuries, however, are clear, while emotional suffering is not, so keep a record of your experiences as detailed as possible. Do you have insomnia, panic attacks, or severe depression? Have these symptoms caused you to miss work or your daily life? Proving your claim will be based on your medical records and any treatment you have sought for emotional distress.
Having gathered enough supporting documents, the next step is to submit the claim. Your lawyer will guide you through the type of emotional damage you should be looking to claim. This could be, for instance, therapy, medication, or emotional pain per se.
Since emotional affliction is largely subjective, it is crucial to furnish proof in the form of medical evidence, credible statements of mental health professionals, and people acquainted with the individual’s distress.
Emotional distress claims can be brought under very different legal standards in other states. Alaska recognizes these as valid claims in personal injury cases, for example. The nuances of these are essential to the success of your case.
A personal injury attorney in Alaska can help guide you through these complex legal pathways, ensuring all the evidence is pooled and presented in your claim.
Do not wait if you have experienced emotional distress because of an accident. If you have been injured in an accident, contact a personal injury lawyer today to learn more about filing a claim and getting the compensation you need to recover.
Featured Image Source: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/personal-injury/suing-emotional-distress/#:~:text=Emotional%20distress%20is%20mental%20suffering,for%20a%20claim%20to%20succeed.
