Why it’s important to consider your emotional trauma after an accident
In Georgia, if you’ve survived an accident resulting in injury, you’ll most likely seek treatment from a medical facility, but you may not realize that emotional distress you endure counts as an injury too. Accident victims often overlook the impact of the emotional distress associated with the accident.
After an accident, people are most likely to focus on their physical injuries but fail to realize that victims also suffer from invisible wounds resulting from emotional distress. According to Georgia personal injury lawyer, Kathryn Burmeister, the term ‘emotional distress’ refers to a non-economic loss you experience due to an accident. In other words, it includes all the emotional suffering you endure because of a specific traumatic incident. In Georgia, emotional distress falls under the category known as ‘pain and suffering.’ Pain and suffering can occur due to a person’s reckless, negligent, or intentional actions. Though it’s not visible as with physical injuries, emotional suffering represents a real consequence of accidents. An experienced, proven personal injury attorney, such as the Burmeister Law Firm team, can help you recover damages for emotional pain as well.
Some examples of emotional distress include, but are not limited to:
- Fear and anxiety
- Depression
- Loss of emotional control
- Interruption of normal sleep patterns
- Persistent periods of crying
- Feelings of humiliation
Any accident or other event that results in you suffering physical injuries can often result in emotional distress. Some examples include:
- Sexual assault
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Fire accidents
- Assault and battery
- Nursing home abuse
- Medical malpractice
- Slips and falls
- Animal attacks
- And many more
It’s crucial to understand how and why these events cause emotional distress. Imagine you’ve been in a serious car crash, which results in one or both vehicles catching fire. If you sustain serious burns, this could cause permanent disfigurement, resulting in feelings of depression and a host of other painful emotional consequences.
Will my emotional distress claim succeed?
If you did not suffer a physical injury due to the traumatic event, your emotional distress claim will not succeed in Georgia. Personal injury lawyer, Kathryn Burmeister, explains that this is referred to as the impact rule.’ This means that, for instance, if you suffered property loss, but no physical injury, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll succeed in recovering financial compensation for emotional distress associated with the loss. Only a few US states still apply this rule to emotional distress claims and Georgia is one of them.
There are three benchmarks that your case must have to receive compensation:
- You suffered a physical impact due to an accident
- The impact of the accident resulted in physical injury
- Your emotional or mental distress is directly caused by the physical injury
If you’re suffering from emotional distress due to an injury from an accident, you can receive compensation for this distress in addition to any other compensation associated with your physical injury. Do not discount your emotional suffering. Call the best Georgia personal injury attorney team today — Burmeister Law Firm. One of the highly experienced, proven lawyers will present your pain to the court and fight for your right to receive damages from the responsible party.
Don’t suffer in silence. Contact Burmeister Law Firm today to set up a
FREE, No-Obligation consultation to discuss your case.
