Can I Recover for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) After a Car Accident?

When most people hear that someone was injured in a car accident, they immediately think of a physical injury, like a broken bone or a neck or back injury. While physical injuries can be very serious, and sometimes catastrophic, mental and emotional injuries can be just as devastating.

What is PTSD?

According to the American Psychiatric Association, PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experience or witnessed a traumatic event, which can include such events as a serious accident. Studies have shown that up to 10% of car accident victims are affected by PTSD. Signs and symptoms of PTSD include:

• Recurrent memories of the event causing you to fell anxious, afraid, guilty, or suspicious
• Heart palpitations
• Panic attacks
• Nightmares
• Avoidance from discussion of the event or of people in general, causing feelings of detachment
• Mood swings
• Fear
• Helplessness
• Feeling of numbness
• Suicidal thoughts

Treatment for PTSD can include psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy, and even medication.

Recovery for PTSD After a Florida Car Accident

Florida law allows for the recovery of damages for mental and emotional injuries like PTSD. As PTSD is a recognized psychiatric disorder, it is a condition that must be diagnosed by a medical professional. Accordingly, to recover damages for PTSD in the state of Florida, you will first need to have been medically diagnosed

as suffering from the condition. Although not required to maintain a claim, you should also have had some form of treatment for your condition. Just like any injury, however, the insurance company will likely dispute the existence of your condition and/or the cause of your condition in its defense of your PTSD related claim. Because PTSD is a psychiatric disorder, the insurance company will be able to obtain any prior records for psychiatric treatment/therapy that you may have had in the past. The insurance company will get these records in an attempt to show that your condition and its related symptoms pre-existed your accident.

What Damages are Recoverable for PTSD?

Damages that can be recovered for PTSD include both economic and non- economic damages. Economic damages are those damages that can be added up on a calculator, such as medical bills (past and future) and lost wages (past and loss of future earning capacity). However, in a case involving PTSD, the largest component of your damages is likely going to be non-economic damages. Non- economic damages are damages for your human losses, like mental anguish and suffering that are not always easy to prove. Because they are damages for human losses, it usually takes humans to prove these damages.

Although you can testify as to how your physical or mental condition may have changed since the accident, the best evidence to prove your human losses is the testimony from the people around you. There is no stronger evidence than the testimony of, let’s say a neighbor or a co-worker, who have no stake in the outcome of your case, who are able to discuss how you’ve changed since the accident occurred.

Let SouthShore Injury Attorneys Help You

To best protect your rights after an accident, it’s important that you seek the help of an experienced personal injury attorney. The attorneys at SouthShore Injury Attorneys can assist you in recovering all of the damages to which you are entitled. The attorneys at SouthShore Injury Attorneys handle only personal injury claims, and are experienced in representing personal injury cases throughout the State of Florida. Contact SouthShore Injury Attorneys at 813-797-5998 for a free consultation.

Free Information

If you have questions about your Florida accident case, you can download our Free Reports:

• Your Guide to Florida Car Accident Claims
• The Ultimate Guide to Florida Slip and Fall Cases
• 5 Medical Mistakes That Will Destroy Your Personal Injury Case

Find them on our website, or you can click the link provided. You can also contact us at 813-797-5998 to talk directly to an Apollo Beach Personal Injury Attorney now.