If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident, mental distress, pain and suffering are common. Do not trust an insurance adjuster to include your mental anguish claims. Read on for more information about how insurance companies treat mental distress after car accidents. Our personal injury law firm in Elgin or Schaumburg can help you.
How Mental Anguish, Pain and Suffering are Handled
Any accident, whether a fender bender or a serious car accident with significant injury, is stressful. Accident victims often suffer from some or all of the following:
- Nervousness
- Anxiety, especially behind the wheel of a car
- Fear of driving
- Fear of being a passenger
- Sleep disorders such as insomnia
- Nightmares
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
You may have heard the term “pain and suffering” as related to personal injury lawsuits. Pain and suffering, or mental anguish, is a component of damages allowed under Illinois law. Compensation for pain and suffering won’t initially be offered in any meaningful way by an insurance adjuster, especially if representing yourself. Lawyers, juries and judges should consider the fact that accident victims endure a certain amount of pain, suffering, and mental anguish. For this reason, injury victims seek – and are often awarded- compensation beyond the cost of medical bills.
There is no formula for calculating the emotional trauma or the hassle of enduring a painful physical injury which was someone else’s fault. The total circumstances surrounding the injury will be generally taken into account. A good personal injury lawyer will understand how to present a strong case based on everything that the victim had to go through.
Similar to pain and suffering, in Illinois a jury can also be asked to consider “loss of a normal life”. In other words, if someone normally would go swimming every day and could no longer do so for a time period after the accident, this disruption to everyday life needs to be considered too as an element of damages.
What if I am only having anxiety or nightmares after an accident?
Most of the time, pain and suffering piggybacks onto a physical injury. For example, if you were in an accident and both of your legs were shattered, pain and suffering from having both of your legs shattered is assumed. Everyone can imagine how painful it is to have shattered bones, even without having experienced it. Then there is having to take time from your day to seek medical care. If someone needed surgery, there is fear and anxiety surrounding that. Then there is recovery time. In other words, most everyone can agree that someone with shattered bones should be well compensated for their hassles, stress, anxiety, pain, etc. But an award for “pain and suffering” after an accident, with little to no physical injury, is going to be much harder to claim.
Accident victims are more likely to be successful in a stand – alone mental anguish claim if they went to see a mental health professional for help. This sends a strong message that the anguish was not only real, but significant enough to require professional help. Even in cases with a documented physical injury, the emotional injury will be taken more seriously if it rose to the level of needing the care of a mental health professional.
When your Mental Anguish after an Accident is Severe
Mental distress after an accident or personal injury can range from mild to very serious. If you believe that your emotional distress is interfering with your day to day functioning, or is harming your sleep, seek help. Professionals are trained to help people overcome the trauma that often accompanies a serious accident. Aside from helping you feel better, you may actually be able to decrease your chances of another accident. Consider this list of reasons to get help for your trauma:
- Your emotional distress makes you more likely to have an accident again
- Driving when stressed increases the chance of another crash
- You are more likely to crash if emotional distress causes anger or depression while driving
- You are more likely to drive too fast or aggressively if the prior trauma is not kept manageable
- If emotional distress makes you tired, it increases the chance of falling asleep at the wheel
Next Steps to Consider following a Car Accident
If you were injured in a serious accident that was not your fault, consider also getting legal assistance to help navigate your claim with the other driver’s insurance company. Ideally, you should speak to a lawyer before discussing your injuries- physical or mental- with the insurance company. We might not be able to take your case if you did not have significant physical injuries, but would be happy nonetheless to talk to you so that you can explore your options. Give us a call at 630 250-8813 (Elgin) or 847 631-6125 (Schaumburg) to speak with the attorney. We are located in Elgin and help injury victims throughout the State of Illinois.