If you’ve suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after an accident, you deserve compensation. It’s plain and simple. PTSD is a mental condition affecting people who have witnessed or experienced a traumatic event. Those who have experienced an assault, shooting, earthquake or serious accident can experience PTSD. Unlike physical injuries, you may not notice the symptoms of PTSD in yourself. PTSD manifests itself in different ways. You may experience these symptoms.
Avoidant Behavior: PTSD can interfere with your life. If you’ve experienced PTSD from a car accident, you may avoid driving on highways or even refuse to get in a car at all. This avoidance reinforces the belief that driving is dangerous. It keeps you locked in fear. You may even avoid talking about the accident and resisting your feelings about it. It can lead to antisocial behavior.
Intrusive Thoughts: PTSD victims often experience intrusive thoughts that include nightmares or flashbacks of the accident.
Alienation and Detachment: Those with PTSD may isolate themselves and withdraw from anything or anyone that reminds them of the trauma they experience. They may be unable to relate to others.
Dissociation: The brain copes with the trauma by suppressing and disconnecting. This impairs awareness and keeps you “zoned out.” You can disassociate during or after an accident. This dissociation temporarily masks the anguish that you are experiencing.
Hypersensitivity and Hypervigilance: PTSD sufferers can have negative and intense reactions to ordinary sounds and sights. It can be difficult to control emotions, and they may have outbursts or act in a self-destructive manner.
PTSD can include insomnia, depression, and memory problems. Doctors look for specific criteria to make a PTSD diagnosis. Generally, physicians diagnose PTSD when the symptoms of it cause problems in everyday functioning and significant emotional distress. PTSD symptoms may appear within three months of the trauma or even later. It’s important to note that PTSD is just as real as physical pain.
Treatment for PTSD
Psychologists and psychiatrists often recommend cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), supportive psychotherapy, eye movement desensitization, and reprocessing (EMDR) and medication to treat PTSD. CBT helps the person replace harmful patterns with healthy coping strategies. Supportive psychotherapy focuses on encouragement and providing comfort. EMDR tracks and guides a patient’s eye movements and helps reroute the brain’s associations. Medication is not intended to be a long-term fix, but more of temporary relief from symptoms. The length of time needed for treatment with PTSD depend on the amount of psychological trauma.
Getting Compensation for PTSD
You can get compensation for PTSD. The damages that you can receive include lost wages, future lost wages, medical expenses, future medical expenses, and non-economic losses like loss of consortium and emotional distress. Examples of damages related to PTSD after an accident include travel to and from doctor’s appointments, prescription medications, costs for professional help, cost of inpatient, and outpatient treatment programs. Other issues like substance abuse treatment that are related to PTSD are also included in damages.
You can be certain that the at-fault party or insurance company named in your claim will want to avoid paying on a claim for PTSD. You need an experienced attorney who can prove that your PTSD was caused by the accident. Causation is the most contested element in a case of negligence. Often, insurance companies will not pay for psychological injuries without compelling evidence. The effects of PTSD are more subjective than physical injuries, and you need a good attorney to prove the existence of PTSD. A good lawyer will bring in well-credentialed experts, such as psychotherapists, to provide testimony about your PTSD symptoms and treatments that you need for recovery. An expert can make the connection between PTSD and the trauma that you have experienced. Other important evidence to prove your PTSD include psychological tests and testimony from those who knew you before and after the accident.
Because of the many challenges in proving PTSD and getting compensation for it, it’s very important to choose an attorney who understands the dynamics of emotional distress and knows how to demonstrate the seriousness of it to insurance adjusters, juries, and judges. If you’ve incurred PTDS due to the negligence of another person, company, or government agency, turn to the accident and injury law office of Terry Bryant.
Terry Bryant is a board-certified personal injury attorney and a former judge. Without a doubt, he knows the legal system very well. He has over three decades of experience in personal injury, including car accidents, work injuries, medical malpractice, dog bites, PTSD, and more. He has helped injured victims get the compensation that they deserve.
A psychological injury like PTSD can change a person’s life forever. You may need to leave work for an extended period of time to get help. Your family may need resources to deal with the aftermath of this psychological injury. Terry Bryant can provide you with these resources and will advocate for you throughout the entire legal process. He will also get you set up with the needed short team and long term medical care. He understands just how debilitating this psychological injury is.
PTSD is a serious matter. But, it’s an injury that you cannot see. How can you convince others that you actually have it? How do you convince the opposition that you need help and compensation? You need a dedicated team to fight on your behalf. You’ll find that dedicated team at the accident and injury law office of Terry Bryant. If you’ve incurred PTSD due to an accident, turn to them for help. Not only is this law firm experience, but they are also committed to getting justice for their clients. They have gotten justice for many other clients and can get justice for you, too. Give them a call today for a free consultation. Plus, there’s never a fee if they don’t win your case. With the accident and injury law office of Terry Bryant, you get legal expertise, experience, compassion, dedication, and the best chance of winning your case. Plus, you’ll get peace of mind knowing that your case is in good hands.