When you or someone you love suffers physical stress or emotional trauma (posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD), those injuries can affect more than the financial well-being of you or your loved one. Physical stress or emotional trauma can be surface after observing a horrible event take place that fatally wounds or kills a loved one, or being directly involved in a traumatic event due to someone else’s bad actions or negligence.
PTSD After an Auto Accident
Witnessing or being in the midst of such extraordinary circumstances can result in long term physical stress or emotional trauma, PTSD. Payment of related medical or ongoing psychological care expenses is rarely enough to compensate for the damages you or your loved one may suffer – especially when those damages could last a lifetime. While only a qualified health professional can diagnose PTSD, there are some overarching symptoms:
- Victims might relive the traumatic event in their head through flashbacks, dreams, or reaction to a place or an object;
- Victims could avoid places that remind them of the traumatic event;
- Victims may have negative thoughts, feel hopeless, or withdraw from friends and family; and
- Victims could be jumpy, irritable, easy to upset or scare, or always on edge.
Wisconsin has no set formula to calculate damages for physical stress and emotional trauma, PTSD. However, there are a number of factors taken into consideration by the courts to help as a guide in determining a damage award. Some of these factors include:
- The victim’s proximity to the traumatic event;
- Whether the victim was a direct witness or came upon the scene right after the event occurred;
- If the victim suffered any physical injury at the scene, no matter how slight; and
- The victim’s relationship to the injured party.
Contact Our Green Bay PTSD Lawyers
In Wisconsin, there are time limits and medical requirements that must be met in order for victims to receive financial recovery for physical stress and emotional trauma caused by PTSD. Therefore, it is important that you contact an experienced personal injury lawyer today who can further explain the time limits, medical requirements, and what type of damages you may be entitled to receive. Call 920-739-7366 to schedule a free consultation with our Appleton personal injury attorneys to get started on the process today.
Sources:
https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/fa60f9c9/files/uploaded/Fitzpatrick%20Skemp%20-%20Scott%20-%20Recovery%20for%20Mental%20Injuries%20in%20Wisconsin.pdf
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967
https://law.justia.com/cases/wisconsin/supreme-court/1967/37-wis-2d-423-14.html