When someone causes an injury through an act of carelessness or recklessness, Nevada law allows the victim to pursue financial compensation or damages to be made whole again. This does not only mean financially; damages can also be awarded for physical pain and emotional distress. Proving the invisible harm of emotional distress in your Las Vegas personal injury claim requires special types of evidence.
Proof of Physical Injuries
While it is possible to file a claim for emotional distress alone in Nevada, these cases are harder to win than cases involving physical or bodily injuries. If you have a physical injury, collect evidence proving your injury and the ways in which it has affected your life. Documentation of your injuries can help establish the level of emotional distress they have caused. Generally, the more severe the injuries, the greater the related emotional trauma is likely to be. Pictures and medical records highlighting the seriousness of your injuries can improve your chances of securing fair financial compensation for related effects on your mental health or daily enjoyment of life.
Get Mental Health Care
Emotional distress from a traumatic accident can cause several mental health disorders that can be diagnosed and treated by medical professionals to document them on paper. This includes anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As soon as you start experiencing symptoms of distress after an accident, such as flashbacks, nightmares, heightened anxiety, depression or trouble sleeping, seek help from a mental health professional. This can document your emotional distress for the record and lead to the treatment you need to feel safe and at peace again.
Call on Friends and Family
There is no better judge of who you were before the accident vs. how you’re doing now than those closest to you. Enlist the help of friends and family members to provide statements about how the accident has impacted you. This testimony can be powerful and demonstrate the emotional or intangible effects of the defendant’s negligence.
Keep a Pain Journal
No one knows your pain and suffering quite like you do. Keep a daily injury or pain journal, where you write down a description of how you are feeling and what you are experiencing day by day. Include your emotional turmoil, fears, mental trauma, physical pain, symptoms of PTSD and other internal battles you are fighting. This journal can serve as evidence to illustrate just how greatly you are suffering.
Work With a Personal Injury Attorney
Judges and juries do not have to follow a specific protocol or calculation method when determining a fair amount to assign a plaintiff in pain and suffering damages. Instead, they make these decisions based on their own opinions after seeing how significantly the incident has impacted the victim’s life. For this reason, compelling storytelling is paramount. Hiring a personal injury attorney can make it easier to provide evidence proving your emotional distress damages. Your lawyer can craft a strong narrative around the evidence to clearly demonstrate to an insurance company or the courts the amount of anguish, pain and hardship you have endured because of the accident. Efforts from your attorney can help you maximize your financial recovery for an invisible loss such as emotional distress.