Emotional Distress

In many personal injury claims, emotional distress, also known as pain and suffering, is included as a type of injury suffered by the victim for which the victim can recover compensation. However, emotional distress damages can also be controversial, as courts may have strict standards when it comes to awarding damages for pain and suffering.

Types of emotional effects for which you can file an emotional distress claim

Many types of emotional or psychological effects can count as distress:

Anxiety
Fear or terror
Sleeplessness
Depression
Uncontrollable crying spells
Mental anguish from adjusting to a disability or terrible injury
Humiliation

Can you recover money for emotional distress in your case?

In general, if you suffered a loss that would qualify for damages in its own right, such as an injury, you can recover money for emotional distress if it’s directly related to that loss.

The strongest emotional distress claims always involve a physical injury. This is known as Georgia’s “impact rule”—emotional distress is valid if there was a physical impact to the body, if that impact caused an injury, and if that injury is the source of the distress.

The impact rule sets a high standard for Georgia’s emotional distress claims, but it also serves an important purpose. It basically restricts damages to those who were directly impacted by the injury. That way, random bystanders and passersby cannot sue for emotional damages simply because they witnessed a gruesome accident. Only the victims’ own emotional distress counts.

Do you still have a claim if you didn’t suffer a physical injury?

If no physical injury occurred, it is possible to build an emotional distress claim on a purely financial loss (such as a damaged vehicle), but this is much harder.

Examples of how these rules work include:

With a physical injury: A woman suffers terrible burns to her face in a car accident. In addition to the physical injury, she finds that people stare at her and whisper about her appearance. The humiliation counts as emotional distress and is related directly to a physical injury. Her claim for emotional distress would probably be granted.
With no physical injury: A man is transporting his late father’s ashes to a lake where he intends to scatter them, in accord with his father’s wishes. On the way, his vehicle is hit by a truck. The man is physically okay, but the vehicle is totaled and all of his father’s ashes are lost in the wreck. The man is grief-stricken and starts attending therapy or counseling. The man may have a claim for emotional distress if he has evidence that his counseling is related to losing the ashes because that connects the distress to a financial loss.

What types of cases typically involve emotional distress damages?

Any type of personal injury claim can involve emotional distress, but it’s most common in cases with severe injuries or a health situation that affects your quality of living. These may include:

Car and truck accidents
Traumatic brain injuries
The wrongful death of a loved one
Defective medical devices
Nursing home abuse

Have you been injured? John Foy & Associates offers a free consultation with some of the most experienced and respected personal injury lawyers in Georgia. Fill out the form to your right or call us at 404-400-4000 to get your FREE consultation today.