Can You Sue for Emotional Distress After a Negligent-Based Accident in Philadelphia, PA?

If you have been harmed in an accident that resulted from another party’s negligence, you may also deal with emotional distress. In this case, you may want to sue the responsible party for your emotional trauma. However, this kind of case can be complicated. Although physical injuries like broken bones can be easily shown through medical imaging results, a mental trauma provides little evidence and can create varying symptoms and consequences. Thankfully, you can turn to Philadelphia, PA personal injury attorneys for legal assistance if you want to be compensated for real emotional injury. The best attorney can help you get compensation for emotional distress you need to restore your normal life.

How Emotional Distress Develops

If you sustained an injury in an accident, you may also have lingering psychological damage after you have recovered from your physical injury. Sustaining psychological damage can dramatically impact your life, limiting the activities you can take part and your life enjoyment. Just like other injuries,  recuperating from emotional distress can take weeks or months of treatment that includes visits to doctors, medication, therapies, and personal effort. 

If you have decided to file a claim for emotional distress, you are looking to get compensated for the pain and suffering you sustained. This may include medical bills and lost wages, as well as loss of joy and embarrassment. If you have a psychological injury you want to pursue compensation for, you must hire an attorney to help you build and gather evidence to show these damages’ true extent in court.

How to Know You Have Emotional Distress

Emotional distress can present in various ways, which makes suing for this injury quite challenging. While there is no set pattern, there are symptoms you may experience. These symptoms include anxiety, anger, bitterness, guilt, depression, humiliation, insomnia, and frustration. 

When Can You Sue?

If your emotional distress is accompanied by a physical injury, it can be easier to prove and sue for. In general, you should prove that you have been injured, another party has acted in a way that could lead to an injury, and their action directly resulted in your injury. 

Having a personal injury attorney on your side who has fought and won several personal injury cases in the past is an important step to take to get the emotional distress settlement you are entitled to. Your attorney can prepare and file the necessary paperwork for you, negotiate with the other party, and give you legal representation at trials.