PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a life-altering disorder that can affect all aspects of a victim’s life, including their physical and psychological wellbeing, mental state, personal relationships and even their job or means of living can all be adversely affected. Though most people associate PTSD with Shell Shock or war trauma, there are many causes for this disorder, including serious or fatal auto accidents. Working as a Seattle personal injury attorney I have seen Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder take a toll on the physical and mental well being of countless car crash victims.

What is PTSD?

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is, in its simplest terms, an anxiety disorder that occurs after a traumatic event and is accompanied by flashbacks, nightmares, lack of involvement with reality, and survivor guilt. PTSD is a bit different from a typical anxiety disorder in that it is triggered by some sort of physical or physiological trauma and it lasts for a prolonged period of time and has a big impact on the sufferer’s life.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has a variety of symptoms which vary depending on the person. Symptoms include:

Nightmares or flashbacks
Random thoughts about the traumatic event
Sudden anger or sadness
Insomnia
Inability to remember important parts of the traumatic event
Hypervigilance
Loss of interest in life and activities
PTSD symptoms can appear shortly after the trauma is experienced or could take months and years in some cases to develop. In fact, children that are abused or assaulted will oftentimes develop PTSD in adulthood as a direct result of their childhood.

What Causes PTSD?

While Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a type of anxiety, it is more complex in that a severe trauma is altering the brain’s function. When experiencing fear or a traumatic experience the brain releases adrenaline- if you have ever participated in an extreme sport such as skydiving, or base jumping or if you have been on a roller coaster even you know the great rush adrenaline can give you. In many PTSD sufferers, however, this adrenaline release never turns off. As a result of the body overproducing adrenaline the victim becomes jumpy, preoccupied and in constant fear of danger. PTSD sufferers are liable to over-react to situations and become hyper-responsive to traumatic or scary events.

There are various traumatic events that can cause Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and do not necessarily have to be a direct physical harm to the person with PTSD.

Severe Car Accident
Sexual Assault
Abuse
Rape
War Trauma or Shell Shock
Fatal Accident in which either a loved one died, or an innocent person died
Child Neglect
Natural Disasters
Death of a loved one
What are the Treatment Options for PTSD?

Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder varies depending on the individual and is decided on by a trained doctor. These treatment options typically involve some form of counseling and therapy and may also include medication depending upon the symptoms and the patient’s tolerance of drugs.

Law of torts, throughout the last decade, has met tremendous evolution. Laws with respect to personal injury and third party liability have been the most influenced sets. Generally speaking, personal injury claims refer to instances where an individual has sustained a physical injury due to a third party’s negligence. The most common types of personal injury claims are automobile accidents, accidents at work place, medical malpractice, dog bites, and premises liability (“slip and fall” accidents).

Again, there is limited time duration, before which, you have to make the claim. Or else, your claim stands void. Also, in case of personal injury claims, the amount of compensation received varies depending on the injury type. They consider whether the damage is permanent or temporary. Again, if the damage is temporary, the compensation depends on the pain suffered, the medical bill coming up to cure the injury, the various out of pocket expenses and a lot more.

It would always be advisable to consult a good lawyer over the matter of any kind of claim. They can provide you with every piece of information that you need when stepping ahead to claim for your personal injury. Further, the attorneys have good experience dealing with variety of cases particularly of their own niche. Because all legal cases are different, they can scrutinize on every detail of your case and, using their experience, offer the right suggestion.

Through the past claims, it can be said that the settlements for personal injury claims belong to one of the following three ways. These are a negotiated settlement, through a jury trial or through formal arbitration. Each of the said methods has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The attorney would be able to tell you of all the pros and cons of each method.

However, the final decision remains in your hand as attorneys can only guide you but can’t decide for you.

Pre settlement funding is a financial tool that is being used by plaintiffs throughout the United States. Pre settlement funding is a non recourse loan against a pending lawsuit. Companies provide this financial tool against personal injury and commercial litigation claims. Money is borrowed by a plaintiff and the plaintiff agrees to use their lawsuit as collateral. If the suit is successful the plaintiff will be responsible for paying back the principle with interest. If the plaintiff loses the case, they don’t have to pay back the advance.

The main reason why this financial tool is used is to help plaintiffs get through the litigation process. If a plaintiff has a financial need they may be forced to settle a case early. If the plaintiff doesn’t have the financial capacity of waiting for a settlement, they may borrow against their lawsuit, without having to settle for less.

While pre settlement funding provides financing to the plaintiffs for ongoing litigation, most companies won’t lend if the money is used toward the legal fees for a case. In order to qualify for an advance against your case there is a process that a pre settlement funding company will take before providing the advance. A company will contact the lawyer who is handling the case, and request documentation on the lawsuit. The documentation is used to assess the strength of the case. If a company believes there is value in the settlement or verdict, and the plaintiff has no other liens on the suit (besides the attorney fees), they may provide lawsuit funding to the client.

The most common types of accidents companies will consider are motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, wrongful death and medical malpractice suits. Depending upon the lending source some companies will provide funding for soft tissue injuries and catastrophic injuries.

It is important to understand that pre settlement funding should only be used if you have a pressing financial need.

Nearly everyone is involved in a car accident at some point in their lives. However, that does not mean you know the right actions to take or even what questions to ask your lawyer. A car accident can be a life-changing experience, and if you are in extreme shock or pain, thinking clearly is difficult.

What legal information you need to know

Should you see a doctor?

It is wise to see a doctor as soon as possible after the accident, even if you believe you were not injured. Whiplash, which causes muscle and tissue damage, may not be immediately apparent. However, people often experience tremendous pain several days later.

Another important reason to see a doctor is to document your injury. Insurance companies may try to prove that an injury was pre-existing or occurred later and was not related to your accident.

Keeping medical appointments and following treatment instructions also helps to show the seriousness of your injury.

Do you have a case?

You must be able to prove that another party’s negligence caused your injury. A negligent driver, an automotive manufacturer producing defective cars, or a government failing to maintain safe roads could all be held liable if their negligence results in injury.

What is the deadline for filing a lawsuit?

You have three years to file a lawsuit for an accident. Once the deadline to file passes, you lose your right to sue for damages.

Obtaining a lawyer early on allows evidence to be gathered and witnesses interviewed. The more time that passes between the accident and filing a lawsuit, the more difficult it is to obtain case evidence.

Personal injury is now a vast topic. Many sufferers who may have a claim for damages resulting from their injury may be confused as to just what they can claim for. This article aims to remove some of this confusion. Generally losses flowing from the injury are claimable for. The types of damages claimable are split into two sub categories; special and general damages.

Special damages – These are essentially those which can readily be quantified such as loss of earnings, medical expenses and transport costs. Post injury it is therefore a wise move to keep a record of all related expenditure keeping receipts where possible to ensure you have the best possible chance of claiming them back since they provide proof of the expenditure and also ensure you do not forget to claim for anything you’re entitled to. Where personal injury is established the special damages of the claim should be fairly straightforward due to their easily quantifiable nature.

General damages – These can be claimed in addition to special damages but are those which cannot be so easily quantified, for example; pain and suffering and potential loss of future earnings flowing from your injury. Since they are much harder to quantify they are more contestable and negotiable if a successful claim is established. In assessing the quantum of these damages precedents (decisions made in other similar cases) are used in attempt to provide a little more certainty. Additionally the Judicial Studies Board have produced some guidelines as to recommended damages for specific injuries, for example £61,500-£83,500 for the loss of one arm. However these figures are only guidelines and the amount is likely to vary depending on the individual circumstances of your case. To conduct more research yourself into this go to your local library who should have a reference copy of Kemp & Kemp – Quantum of Damages which provides details of previous damages given to specific injuries in the past, this should provide an indication of likely compensation, but of course provides no guarantee!

Hopefully this article has provided you with a greater idea of the heads of damages you can claim for with relation to your injury and provides sufficient information for you to gain a rough idea of how much you could potentially be awarded in compensation. If you consider if worthwhile the next stage is likely to be to contact a solicitor to handle your case for you. They should also be able to advise you whether you have a reasonable chance of succeeding in your claim, and provide guidance as to whether they feel the compensation figure you have in mind is likely to be accurate.