By: Kylee Carlin, Personal Injury Attorney at SW&L Attorneys

When most people think about injuries after a car crash, workplace accident, or other traumatic event, they imagine casts, crutches, insurance claims, and hospital bills. But for many victims, the hardest part begins after the cuts heal and the bones mend. It’s the emotional trauma that lingers, the kind of injury you can’t see on an X-ray but that can affect every part of daily life.

Emotional Injuries Are Real Injuries

After a serious accident, many victims experience:

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Reliving the event through flashbacks or nightmares. These symptoms can be sparked by many different triggers, often including: loud noises; driving by the scene of the crash; traveling as a passenger in a vehicle (thereby losing the feeling of control).
  • Anxiety: Feeling on edge, fearful, or unable to relax, especially in situations that remind them of the trauma.
  • Depression: Loss of interest in daily life, feelings of hopelessness, or isolation.
  • Phobias: Fear of driving, fear of certain environments, or avoidance of anything that recalls the trauma.

These emotional injuries can disrupt work, relationships, sleep, and overall quality of life. In many cases, they can last far longer than physical injuries.

Why Emotional Injuries Are Overlooked

Victims often don’t talk about their struggles because they feel embarrassed or worry others won’t believe them. Insurance companies may dismiss these damages as “minor” or “soft,” even though mental health experts recognize how devastating they are. Medical professionals often focus on physical recovery, unintentionally leaving emotional wounds untreated.

The Legal Perspective

The law recognizes that emotional trauma is just as real as physical harm. Compensation in a personal injury claim can cover pain and suffering, emotional distress, fear of injury, and loss of enjoyment of life. Evidence might include:

  • Testimony from mental health professionals
  • Journals or personal accounts of day-to-day struggles
  • Testimony from friends or family about changes in mood, personality, or behavior

Jurors often respond strongly to this evidence because they understand that trauma doesn’t end when the cast comes off, especially in cases involving significant physical trauma and/or death.

Healing Is Physical and Emotional

If you’re struggling with emotional injuries after an accident, you are not alone. Seeking help is not a weakness, it is an important step in recovery. Therapy, counseling, psychological/psychiatric treatment, and support groups can make a significant difference. Additionally, documenting that care also strengthens your legal case, because without the treatment to help try to recover, the defense or insurance company may try to make it appear it is not real.

Final Thoughts

The trauma after trauma is real. At our firm, we believe injured individuals deserve to be compensated not just for the injuries you can outwardly see, but also for the ones you can’t. Emotional recovery is part of justice, and no one should have to suffer in silence.

If you have been injured, both physically and emotionally, don’t wait to seek legal help. Contact us at SW&L Attorneys by calling 701-297-2890, or emailing us at: [email protected].

This article is for informational purposes only and is subject to our disclaimer.