When a person gets injured due to an act of negligence by another individual or business, that person can file for a personal injury claim to get compensated for the losses suffered. The acts of negligence include a car accident, medical error and any other error that would cause physical or emotional injury to another person. A lot has been said and written on physical injuries resulting from other people’s negligence but very few talk about the aspect of mental health in relation to personal injury claims. The information below will give you some light on the correlation between mental health and personal injury claim.
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Physical injuries and mental health
After an individual gets injured from an accident, a fall or even intake of the wrong prescription, physical symptoms will be easy to identify. For instance, a medical practitioner can identify a burn, broken bone, neck injury, concussions, and spinal injury depending on where the victim felt the impact. Sometimes it can be an ailment such as stomach ache due to poisoned food in a restaurant. A physician will only need to observe what he can see, ask questions to the victim, and conduct x-rays and lab tests to confirm the presence of these physical injuries. In the midst of all these physical injuries, confirmation of the same and the process of filing a personal injury claim, an individual might suffer some psychological injuries that also need to be put into consideration.
Mental health of every individual is very important for the proper functioning of the brain and normal living. That said, if a person gets injured because of a negligent act of another person or business, it is possible to have a negative impact on their mental health, and this equips to psychological injuries. For instance, one would be psychologically affected when they can no longer do the things they were doing before or start relying on other people for basic care. This person can experience reduced quality of life because even their relationship with other people including spouses, children, friends and other family members will get affected.
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One of the main form of psychological injury that a health practitioner will be required to confirm for personal injury claim is depression because a victim will be struggling to get into terms with the new life. Other symptoms include fear, scary nightmares, and flashbacks of their incident and panic attacks among other anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders.
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Proof of impact on mental health from personal injury
Unlike physical injuries, psychological injuries are more difficult to prove during a personal injury claim despite the fact that the victims are entitled to be compensated for the same. Some victims tend to live in denial of having any psychological issue after a personal injury, and this is the reason why in most cases psychological injuries take longer to heal than physical injuries. A Tampa personal injury attorney, with the help of a health practitioner, will have to evaluate the situation and look for the physical manifestation of the psychological injuries. Such manifestations include loss of appetite, lack of sleep, upset stomach, fatigue, weight gain or loss, and mood swings among others. The attorney will recommend for medical attention in regard to mental health the same way he would when it comes to physical injuries to not only ensure the victim gets a full recovery but also to ensure he gets compensated for psychological injuries suffered from the incident.
A Tampa personal injury attorney will only need to prove that the mental injuries are as a result of the incident, and the victim can, therefore, file for a personal injury claim to cover both the physical and the mental injuries. The losses covered in this case will include psychological treatments such as psychological therapies, medication and community support programs among others. Other losses to be covered include medical bills for physical injuries and loss of income.
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