Insurance companies typically find the calculation of an injury settlement to be relatively straightforward if it concentrates only on medical bills, lost wages and property damage. In many cases, however, the person deals with traumatic emotional and psychological effects that can continue for a long time. A personal injury lawyer in Gig Harbor may recommend that those aspects be included in the list of demands for financial compensation as well. Although those factors may be considered intangible, they still can result in very negative experiences.
Some non-material consequences of a traumatic accident could include general anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, depression and an inability to concentrate. The individual may be irritable with family members, and the psychological effects may have a negative impact on those relationships. Sometimes, alcohol intake increases in an effort to self-medicate.
In the legal realm, those intangible issues may be categorized as emotional pain and suffering. Insurers tend to be skeptical about these aspects since they aren’t visible or diagnosed in a concrete way, such as a fractured bone is. How does a person prove that they are experiencing these effects?
One method is to have an assessment conducted by a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist. That assessment can verify that the person is dealing with debilitating anxiety or other emotional issues. Another method is to have acquaintances make statements verifying changes in personality. A medical doctor may also be willing to verify clinical depression or signs of insomnia so the personal injury lawyer in Gig Harbor can send that information to the insurance company.
An insurer is usually more likely to accept the claim of emotional pain and suffering, sometimes known as mental anguish, if the person was involved in an accident that was exceptionally traumatic. For example, someone who was hit by a drunk driver and saw their spouse being killed in the accident is justifiably traumatized on an emotional level. This is substantially different than someone who developed neck pain after being rear-ended at a traffic light. A lawyer such as Anthony Otto is ready to answer questions and clarify details.
