A car accident is one of the major causes of post-traumatic stress disorder in the United States. Car accidents can cause physical injuries and have an emotional impact on the victim.
The emotional effect of a car accident can be as painful as the physical pain. If you were injured in a car accident, you would have to deal with the anxiety and stress associated with it.
It is important for victims to recover damages for all the losses they have suffered. The car accident lawyers at Impact Legal and other experienced law firms help victims get fair compensation for all their damages.
As a victim, you need to be aware of the emotional trauma that can occur due to car accidents. Keep reading this article to learn what the emotional impacts of a car accident are.
Here are the common emotional impacts of car accidents:
- Mental anguish
- Disfigurement and disability
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Loss of quality of life
- Loss of consortium
Mental Anguish
After a car accident, the injured person may experience mental anguish. It is a psychological condition that causes a high level of mental distress and pain for the victim.
The following are some of the symptoms of mental anguish:
- Phobia
- Insomnia
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Concentration issues
Disfigurement and Disability
A person involved in a car accident, especially T-bone accidents, will experience mental trauma if they experience any form of disability or disfigurement. Disfigurement and disability are the most distressing conditions victims of car accidents can suffer from.
The injured person will lose their sense of who they are and their acceptance of their body and themselves. Due to the disfigurement, they will experience deep emotional distress.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Most car accident victims will experience immense emotional trauma that affects their mental health. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health disorder that commonly occurs in people who have sustained injuries in a car accident.
PTSD will impact your ability to work, perform day-to-day activities, or have fulfilling relationships with your friends and family.
Here are some symptoms of PTSD:
- Detachment
- Flashbacks
- Nightmares
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Irritability
- Trouble sleeping
Image by Freepik
Loss of Quality of Life
If you were severely injured in a car accident, all aspects of your life would be impacted. A car accident victim is vulnerable to a host of injuries. Some of them are:
- Loss of limbs
- Paralysis
- Loss of vision
- Organ damage
- Multiple bone fractures
- Traumatic brain damage
These permanent injuries will negatively impact the victim’s life, such as being unable to play with his or her kids, participate in hobbies or other activities, or go to work. They may not be able to take care of themselves.
At the same time, they need to be dependent on others to do all the tasks. So, this diminished quality of life will severely affect the emotional health of the car accident victim.
Loss of Consortium
Loss of consortium is also a type of emotional distress that significantly affects the partner of an injured person or one who has lost their life. Loss of consortium has numerous side effects. They are
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of sexual intimacy
- Loss of affection
All the things above affect the mental health of both the victim and their life partner.
For example, if a wife dies in a car accident, her husband could suffer from the loss of the companionship and affection offered by the wife.
Final Thoughts
We hope our blog post has helped you understand the emotional effects of the car accident. If you have experienced any of the above-mentioned conditions, you should undergo therapy or counseling to overcome this trauma.
With the help of an experienced attorney, you can recover compensation from the driver who caused the car accident. This compensation will be helpful in treating the physical and emotional effects of a car accident and getting back to your normal life.