After a traumatic accident, the emotional aftermath can be just as devastating as any physical injury. Many people who experience such trauma develop PTSD, a condition that can significantly affect how you think, feel, and live. Below are answers to some questions about how PTSD is handled in a personal injury lawsuit in Kentucky. Continue reading and consult with a skilled Pikeville, KY personal injury lawyer for more information today.
What is PTSD?
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is a recognized mental health condition that can occur after someone experiences or witnesses a traumatic event. The trauma may involve a serious injury, violence, or life-threatening danger.
Symptoms of this condition often include flashbacks to the event, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, anxiety, avoidant behaviors, and hypervigilance. Put simply, PTSD keeps your body and brain stuck in survival mode, even when you are no longer in danger.
Can PTSD Be Covered in a KY Personal Injury Lawsuit?
In Kentucky personal injury law, PTSD can be considered a compensable injury if it can be medically documented and linked to the defendant’s negligence or actions. This means that if another person’s carelessness or wrongdoing caused the traumatic event that led to your PTSD, you may have the right to seek financial compensation through a personal injury claim or lawsuit.
Emotional injuries like PTSD are considered non-economic damages, meaning they compensate you for intangible losses that do not have an inherent monetary value, like the emotional pain, fear, and suffering that alter your quality of life. However, you could recover economic damages for the condition as well. The financial losses associated with your PTSD can be included in a lawsuit, like the cost of therapy, diagnostic testing, medication, lost income due to inability to work, and more.
What Must Be Proven to Recover Compensation for PTSD?
Kentucky personal injury cases require that you, as the plaintiff, demonstrate the four key elements of negligence, which include:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care
- The defendant breached the duty of care
- The breach of duty directly caused your injury
- You suffered compensable damages as a result
In a PTSD claim, the main challenge is establishing that the condition exists, since it is not a visible injury, and linking it directly to the defendant’s actions.
Evidence such as medical records, therapist testimony, personal journals, and statements from family, friends, and coworkers who have observed behavior changes can establish the impact your PTSD has had on your life. This type of information will help the court see your condition as a medically recognized injury with real consequences.
Kentucky courts traditionally require a physical injury to exist in order to recover compensation for emotional distress, but there are certain exceptions. To learn more and secure skilled legal representation, reach out to an experienced personal injury lawyer today.
