Understandably so, falling victim to a catastrophic accident may leave you with a significant emotional scar. This burden on your mental health may require you to attend a great deal of therapy sessions, along with being prescribed serious medications. Or, it may limit your ability to maintain gainful employment, as you once did before the accident. With this mess you have been left to deal with, you may wonder whether you can obtain some sort of financial relief.聽Follow along to find out your ability to sue for emotional trauma and how a proficient New York City personal injury attorney at Mark L. Bodner, P.C. can help increase your chances of recovery.
Is it possible to sue for emotional trauma after a personal injury accident?
Simply put, emotional trauma is considered to be a type of non-economic damage that can be claimed in a personal injury case. This is so long as you can prove that you meet the criteria for having emotional trauma. It reads as follows:
- You must prove that you have been made a victim of a personal injury accident that exposed you to death, serious injury, violence, or a threat thereof.
- You must prove that you have been involuntarily re-experiencing the traumatic event that was your personal injury accident.
- You must prove that you have been forced to avoid any external reminders of the traumatic event that was your personal injury accident.
- You must prove that you have been experiencing a disturbance in mood or behavior after the traumatic event that was your personal injury accident.
The aforementioned criteria are commonly proved through records of your psychiatric treatment and clinic notes from your therapy sessions, among other medical documents.聽Also, an important note is that you do not have to incur any bodily injury to claim emotional trauma in your personal injury accident. For example, if you may not have been physically injured in your car accident. However, the event may have left you scarred to the point where you are no longer capable of driving yourself anywhere; especially to and from work.
What other non-economic damages might I claim?
Aside from emotional trauma, you may have incurred other types of non-economic damages after your personal injury accident. Rest assured, you may still properly heal from them by seeking additional financial compensation in your claim. That is, you may also be eligible to claim the following:
- The effects of your physical pain and discomfort.
- The effects of your permanent scarring or disfigurement.
- The effects of your permanent disabilities or impairments.
- The effects of your lost enjoyment of life.
- The effects of your decreased quality of life.
With the complex legal proceedings ahead, you should not go through it alone. Rather, you should have a talented New York City personal injury attorney from Mark L. Bodner, P.C. stand by your side throughout. Contact our firm today.