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Our LocationsA car accident can cause more than physical injuries. Some people experience anxiety, nightmares, fear of driving, difficulty sleeping, or other psychological symptoms after a crash. In some cases, a serious accident can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
If another driver’s negligence caused your car accident, you may be able to seek compensation for the emotional trauma caused by the crash. Ohio law recognizes mental anguish as a type of non-economic loss that may be included in a personal injury claim.
However, proving PTSD or other emotional trauma after a car accident can require evidence beyond your own description of what happened. Medical records, mental health treatment, testimony from people who know you, and evidence showing how the accident changed your daily life may all be important.
If you developed PTSD after a car accident in Ohio, an experienced car accident lawyer can help investigate your claim and pursue compensation for the full impact of your injuries.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychological condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. A serious car accident can be that type of event, particularly when someone suffers a severe injury, believes they may die, or witnesses another person being seriously injured or killed.
PTSD symptoms can appear immediately after a crash or develop later. Some people may initially focus on treating their physical injuries and only recognize the psychological effects of the accident weeks or months afterward.
Symptoms may include:
Not everyone who experiences these symptoms has PTSD. A medical or mental health professional can evaluate your symptoms and determine whether you have PTSD or another condition related to the accident.
Potentially. If another person’s negligence caused your accident and the crash resulted in PTSD or other emotional trauma, those injuries may be considered as part of your personal injury claim.
Ohio law recognizes mental anguish as a form of non-economic loss. Unlike medical bills or lost wages, noneconomic losses do not have a specific dollar amount attached to them.
Emotional trauma may affect your ability to work, drive, sleep, spend time with your family, or participate in activities you enjoyed before the accident. Those effects can be relevant when determining the full extent of your damages.
A PTSD diagnosis does not automatically determine the value of a claim. The circumstances of the accident, the severity and duration of your symptoms, your treatment, and the overall effect on your life can all matter.
Any serious collision can be traumatic, but certain circumstances may increase the likelihood of significant psychological effects.
PTSD can develop after accidents involving:
Even a crash that does not result in severe physical injuries can be psychologically traumatic. The way a person experiences the accident and responds afterward can vary significantly.
Psychological injuries can be more difficult to document than broken bones or other visible injuries. There may not be a medical image that demonstrates PTSD, but that does not mean the condition cannot be established.
Medical and mental health treatment can provide important evidence. If you experience symptoms after an accident, tell your doctor or mental health provider what you are experiencing.
Evidence may include:
For example, someone who regularly drove to work before an accident may stop driving out of fear of another collision. If that fear continues and affects their ability to work or care for their family, evidence of those changes may help demonstrate the accident’s impact.
A formal PTSD diagnosis can be important evidence, but you should not assume that you cannot pursue compensation simply because you have not received one.
You may be experiencing psychological symptoms without knowing that they could be related to the accident. Anxiety, nightmares, panic attacks, depression, difficulty sleeping, and fear of driving can all be reasons to speak with a healthcare professional.
Your medical provider can evaluate your symptoms and determine whether they are consistent with PTSD or another condition.
It is also important not to minimize psychological symptoms when discussing your recovery with your doctors. Tell your healthcare providers about changes you have noticed since the accident, even if those symptoms do not seem as serious as your physical injuries.
If you have a valid personal injury claim, you may be able to seek compensation for both economic and non-economic losses.
Economic damages can include losses such as:
Non-economic damages can address losses that are more difficult to calculate. Depending on the circumstances, these may include pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional trauma, loss of enjoyment of life, and other effects of the accident.
The value of a claim depends on the specific circumstances. A person experiencing temporary anxiety after a minor crash may have a very different claim from someone whose PTSD prevents them from driving, working, sleeping, or participating in normal activities for an extended period.
A pre-existing mental health condition does not necessarily prevent you from recovering compensation after a car accident.
For example, someone may have experienced anxiety before a crash but developed severe driving-related anxiety afterward. Another person may have had a condition that was well-controlled before the accident but experienced significantly worse symptoms after the collision.
Relevant medical history can be part of a personal injury claim. Medical records and testimony may help establish what your condition was like before the accident and how it changed afterward.
Be honest with your healthcare providers and your attorney about your medical history. Trying to hide a pre-existing condition can create problems for a claim, while accurate medical documentation can help explain how the accident affected you.
Yes. PTSD symptoms can interfere with a person’s ability to work in different ways. Someone may have difficulty concentrating, sleeping, interacting with coworkers, driving to work, or completing tasks. Panic attacks or other symptoms may cause someone to miss work or reduce their hours.
If PTSD affects your ability to earn income, those consequences may be relevant to your personal injury claim. Employment records, wage information, and medical documentation can help establish the connection between your symptoms and your lost income or reduced earning capacity.
If you believe you are experiencing PTSD after a crash, getting appropriate treatment is an important first step.
Talk to a doctor or mental health professional about your symptoms. Follow the treatment recommendations you receive and attend follow-up appointments.
Keep track of nightmares, panic attacks, sleep problems, fear of driving, and other symptoms. Note how those symptoms affect your work, relationships, and everyday activities.
Keep medical records, bills, prescriptions, employment records, and other documents related to your recovery. If you have photographs, videos, dashcam footage, or other evidence from the accident, preserve those materials as well.
An insurance adjuster may ask questions about your injuries and treatment. Avoid minimizing your symptoms or making statements that could be taken out of context. Before accepting a settlement or signing a release, consider having an experienced car accident attorney review the offer and your potential claim.
Potentially. Psychological symptoms do not always appear immediately after a traumatic event. Some people initially focus on physical injuries and only later recognize that they are having nightmares, avoiding driving, experiencing panic attacks, or struggling with other symptoms.
A delay in recognizing psychological symptoms does not necessarily mean they were unrelated to the accident. Medical evaluation and treatment records can help establish what happened and whether your symptoms are connected to the crash.
If you begin experiencing psychological symptoms after an accident, seek medical attention rather than assuming you simply need to get over what happened.
Ohio generally requires a person to file a claim for bodily injury within two years after the cause of action accrues, subject to certain exceptions.
Because missing a legal deadline can prevent you from pursuing a claim, it is important not to wait until the end of the limitations period to speak with an attorney.
There is another reason to investigate a claim promptly. Evidence can become more difficult to locate as time passes, and memories can fade. Medical records and other documentation may become particularly important when establishing psychological injuries that are not immediately apparent.
Yes. A car accident can result in multiple physical and psychological injuries, and a personal injury claim may account for the overall effect of those injuries. For example, someone could suffer a back injury and concussion in a crash while also developing PTSD.
The claim would not necessarily treat the psychological injury as separate from the physical injuries. Instead, the evidence can be used to demonstrate the full impact the accident has had on the person’s health and life. This is one reason it is important to tell your healthcare providers about all of your symptoms after a crash.
Kisling, Nestico & Redick can investigate your accident and work to determine who was responsible for your injuries.
Our attorneys can review the circumstances of the crash, gather evidence, evaluate your medical treatment, and assess how your injuries have affected your life. When psychological trauma is part of a claim, understanding the full extent of those injuries can be particularly important.
Depending on the circumstances, KNR may help by:
Insurance companies may question the existence of emotional injuries because they are not always visible. Having evidence that documents your symptoms and their effects can help establish that PTSD is a real part of what you experienced after the accident.
Potentially. If another person’s negligence caused the accident and you developed PTSD as a result, your psychological injuries may be included in a personal injury claim.
Medical and mental health records can provide important evidence. A PTSD diagnosis, treatment records, testimony from people who know you, employment records, and documentation showing how your symptoms changed your daily life may also help establish your claim.
Potentially. You should speak with a healthcare professional about psychological symptoms after an accident rather than assuming that you need a specific diagnosis before seeking treatment or discussing your injuries with an attorney.
PTSD symptoms can appear shortly after a traumatic event or become noticeable later. If you begin experiencing symptoms weeks or months after an accident, tell your healthcare provider about the crash and when your symptoms began.
A pre-existing condition does not automatically prevent you from recovering compensation. Medical evidence may help establish whether the accident caused a new psychological injury or made an existing condition worse.
It can. The severity and duration of PTSD symptoms, the treatment required, the effect on your ability to work and participate in daily activities, and other factors may affect the damages associated with a claim.
The effects of a car accident do not always end when your physical injuries begin to heal. If you are experiencing PTSD, anxiety, nightmares, or other emotional trauma after a crash caused by someone else’s negligence, those effects may be an important part of your personal injury claim.
Kisling, Nestico & Redick represents people injured in car accidents throughout Ohio. Our attorneys can investigate your accident, document your losses, and pursue the compensation you may be entitled to receive. Contact KNR at 1-800-HURT-NOW for a free consultation. You pay nothing unless we win
