Can Florida car accident victims get compensation for mental or emotional injuries?

Immediately after a Florida auto accident, all attention and resources focus on the victims’ injuries, namely the physical injuries that can be seen, documented and treated.

Gradually, for some accident survivors, injuries that are more difficult to deal with come to light, mental and emotional injuries that keep you awake at night and prevent you from feeling normal again.

Mental and emotional scars can be very serious.

In a separate article on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) we have described how PTSD can:

• Get worse with each passing month and year;
• Affect your and your family’s life to the point of destroying it;
• Make you gradually unable to work as before;
• And have a very negative effect on your health.

Many crash victims who suffer from serious and long-lasting emotional and mental distress believe it can’t be treated or that it will cure itself with time, and end up negating the symptoms either by exhausting self-control, or by the abuse of drugs or alcohol.

Children and adolescents are even more subject to the psychological damage created by a traumatic car crash. If not handled professionally, these scars could seriously hamper their happiness and life potential.

Are you entitled to compensation?

To the same extent as you are entitled to a settlement for your physical injuries, you can claim compensation for mental and emotional injuries. There are several aspects to such a claim:

• Detailed description and evidence of the symptoms;
• Cost of medical and psychological therapy;
• Loss of wages as a consequence of the mental and emotional distress;
• Loss of consortium, lifestyle or life enjoyment.

Only an experienced Florida auto accident attorney can help you build the case for emotional and mental injuries, and help you reach a settlement with the defendants that will allow you to re-build your life.

If you need help, and the support of an experienced and determined attorney focused on car, truck and motorcycle accidents in North and Central Florida, call the Daytona Beach attorneys of Johnson & Gilbert today toll free at (800) 556-8890 and locally at (386) 673-4412 or fill out the form on this page for a free consultation.