Health

Can I be compensated for emotional distress?

Going through emotional trauma and trouble interferes with a person’s life and hampers the normal functioning of their life and this is the reason why you must think about suing for emotional distress if you are facing anything like it. The emotional effects that have been caused by an accident are a major component of compensation in any type of personal injury case. If you are somebody who has filed a claim for a personal injury settlement, you must know about emotional distress damages so that you are able to ask for a fair amount in compensation and negotiate in a better way.

What are emotional distress damages?

Emotional distress damages will include the impact that the injury is having on your daily life from a psychological point of view. An accident can have a very deep impact on your emotions and its effects can keep showing much after the injuries have completely healed and this is the reason why while compensating for an accident injury, the emotional distress is also accounted for.

There is no set definition for what can be accounted as emotional distress damages, and the term is very subjective in that sense. There are many issues that can be included in the term such as lost sleep, anxiety, fear, depression, etc.

How can you document emotional distress?

Think whatever of it, asking for a claim for anything is a practical issue and you will be required to show evidence because naturally the opposite party will be reluctant to give you the compensation. This is why it is very important to document everything that you’re feeling as you never know which of your feelings might turn out to be compensable. 

You must tell your doctor about everything, share with them everything that you have experienced after the accident, as it will be medically documented and will prove to be very helpful when you have emotional distress.

It is also a great step to maintain a journal in which you document your feelings regarding and related to the accident. You must also include the feelings that are arising as a result of the injury which has been caused by the accident. All these types of evidence are very important in the light of a claim and will prove to be very helpful.

Emotional distress is a very real thing which can stem from an accident and it shall certainly not be ignored and must be compensated for fairly.