A personal injury can affect many areas of your life. In addition to physical injury, you may suffer emotional injury.

Can I Sue for Emotional Pain and Suffering?

Under certain circumstances, you can sue for emotional pain and suffering. In a personal injury lawsuit, victims usually sue for damages related to the injury suffered. Some of these damages are financial in nature, and others, like emotional distress, can be harder to calculate.

What Are Some Examples of Emotional Distress?

Emotional distress after a personal injury can come from a range of factors. Some people may experience trauma after an injury. Others may experience a loss of quality of life in the aftermath of an injury that changed their life.

Loss of quality of life may include a loss of mobility, loss of ability to engage in hobbies or sports that the victim previously enjoyed, or loss of enjoyment of life due to chronic pain or other long-lasting side effects of the injury.

In addition to the physical harm experienced by the victim, physical injuries or disabilities may also take an emotional toll. People who have been rendered disabled or have been disfigured due to a personal injury may suffer from embarrassment or anger due to their new condition. They may feel socially alienated, or may disconnect socially.

Many victims may experience grief over the loss of their abilities. Others may have difficulty adjusting to their new reality, or become depressed.

Additionally, victims who were unexpectedly injured may also suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, or PTSD. Approximately one in every eleven people will be diagnosed with PTSD at some point during their lifetime. Often, the cause of PTSD or anxiety is trauma related to a personal injury. For instance, victims who were in a car accident may be too anxious to drive after their injury.

These psychological effects may also cause insomnia, nightmares, intrusive thoughts, or other issues. In order to cope with the emotional pain and suffering caused by a personal injury, some victims turn to alcohol or other substances.

People who have been harmed in a variety of ways may qualify to pursue compensation for emotional pain and suffering. Common examples of emotional pain and suffering include:

• anxiety
• depression
• feelings of alienation
• grief
• panic attacks
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• substance abuse

In addition to these examples, emotional pain and suffering may also take other forms. If you have suffered a personal injury and have experienced emotional side effects, you may be eligible to speak with a qualified attorney about your legal rights.

How Can Emotional Injury be Proven?

To successfully make a claim for emotional suffering, a victim and an attorney must be able to show that emotional distress has had a significant impact on a person’s life.

This can be done in a number of ways. For instance, if a person required therapy after a trauma, a claim for emotional pain and suffering could include the cost of therapy. Similarly, the cost for anti anxiety or antidepressant medications could be calculated, as could the cost for missed work due to emotional distress.

In some cases, the testimony of medical professionals may be important in determining if a valid claim for emotional distress can be made. If a professional makes a diagnosis of PTSD or depression, for example, this can be a valuable piece of evidence in a lawsuit.

How Much Can One Receive for Emotional Pain and Suffering?

How much a person can receive in damages is determined based on the severity of the pain and suffering. An award will sometimes take into account the financial impact of the emotional distress itself, and also may use other standards.

Factors that can be considered when determining the amount of an awarded for emotional pain and suffering include:

• intensity and duration of the mental anguish
• bodily harm connected to the emotional injury
• underlying cause of emotional distress

What Kinds of Emotional Distress Claims Can be Made?

Claiming emotional pain and suffering can be complicated because there are different kinds of claims for emotional distress.

The two main types of claims regarding emotional pain and suffering are cases where someone did not intend to cause the distress, but did so due to negligence, and cases where the distress was either intentionally inflicted, or was the result of outrageous actions likely to cause emotional harm.

In some cases, victims will attempt to hold someone accountable for negligent infliction of emotional distress. This comes into play when the harm was not intended. An example of a negligent infliction of emotional distress claim is when the harm could have been prevented had the person or entity who allegedly cause the distress been more careful.  

Other examples of negligently-inflicted emotional distress may include bystanders who watched their loved one die in an accident involving negligence, or cases where misconduct such as the mishandling of a dead body may lead to suffering. This type of distress may also be related to physical injuries caused by negligence. For instance, someone who was disfigured or suffered facial injuries due to an accident may also experience emotional pain related to these injuries including depression, embarrassment, dysphoria, or other types of emotional anguish.

In other cases, victims can claim intentional infliction of emotional and physical harm,as may be the case if a person intentionally and knowingly hurt someone else. This claim could be made if someone intentionally inflicted physical harm that then caused emotional harm, or if the person intentionally aimed to hurt someone emotionally. 

Examples of purposely-inflicted distress may vary even more widely. In these instances, victims of emotional suffering are not required to prove that the defendant intentionally meant to cause them harm, only that they acted in a reckless and outrageous way that resulted in the victim’s distress. These instances may include cases of defamation or libel, where the defendant spread lies or misinformation about the victim’s character with the intent of damaging their reputation or livelihood. Other types of intentionally inflicted emotional distress may include instances of abuse of power including racial or other slurs or insults, cases of public humiliation or embarrassment, and instances of bullying and harassment.