How to Cope with Legal & Mental Anguish During Your Personal Injury Lawsuit

All catastrophic injuries involve a great deal of stress and anxiety. Lots of important decisions need to be made quickly, so it’s natural to worry about which doctors to see and what treatments and procedures you’ll need. All accident victims worry about whether their health will return to the point where they can enjoy their family, return to work, and focus on their future. There’s a lot of stress worrying about which insurance policies will pay your bills until there is a settlement or a verdict. On top of the medical bills, personal injury victims worry about how they’ll pay their daily living expenses and provide for their family while they can’t work.

Your personal mental anguish also includes concerns for how your injuries are affecting your family. The worries escalate as your case proceeds. What is a deposition (formal oral questions)? What are interrogatories (formal written questions)? Will I have to go to court? What do I do when I see the driver who struck me, the property owner who caused me to fall, the doctor who caused my child’s birth injuries, or other defendants? Do I need to dress up? What happens if the lawyer for the defendants is obnoxious?

The mental anguish doesn’t stop there. Depending on the scope and severity of the injuries, victims are likely to experience mental and physical anguish when they walk, lift something, try to sleep, or perform many daily functions. Complications can cause more stress. Certain injuries, like burns, may affect a victim’s confidence and ability to enjoy relationships. Some injuries may be so devastating that victims have post-traumatic stress disorder.

What mental health challenges are you likely to face after an accident?

Your challenges will vary for each stage of your personal injury claim from the time of the accident, through the resolution of your case, and after your case is resolved. These challenges often include the following:

• Responding to the accident itself: Whether you’re rear-ended, struck head-on, trip over a cable at a local store, are struck while walking, harmed by medical negligence, or injured while a resident of a nursing home, the initial shock of the traumatic event is likely to be severe. Often, in an instant, your life may be altered – sometimes permanently. It’s natural to be angry, hurt, confused, and in a state of disbelief. Personal injury victims worry initially about whether they should get immediate medical care and how they will get to the nearest hospital.
• Worrying about what to do: There are a lot of decisions you’ll have to make after an accident that will cause anxiety and concern. These include decisions about notifying the police, notifying a store manager, notifying your own insurance company, speaking to other drivers, talking to the insurance companies for the other drivers (don’t talk to them; we’ll talk for you), and many other decisions.
• Coping with your injuries: The mental stress of coping with your pain, or with the loss of a life after the accident, choosing doctors, arranging to see the doctors, feeling comfortable asking your doctors and rehabilitative therapists questions, handling physical therapy exercises, and many other parts of your recovery can be hard to cope with on a day-to-day basis—especially if you’re alone or have few people you can rely on to help you. Some victims have nightmares, relive the accident, and have sustained anger about what happened.
• Managing how you handle your legal claim: Our Tampa Bay personal injury lawyers understand how stressful insurance claims and lawsuits can be. That’s why we focus on the legal side of your claim, so you can focus on your physical and mental well-being. We can explain how the claims process works. We calmly and clearly guide you through each step of the claims process. These steps include the investigation, the discovery phase, the assessment and documentation of all your damages, negotiations with insurance adjusters, and, when necessary, a trial.

Our team asks you questions to help you express your concerns and to be ready for anything the insurance companies or defense lawyers throw at you. Our lawyers also take the time to know you personally, so you know your interests are our top priority. We encourage you to stay in contact with the MattLaw team throughout your claims process.

• Understanding settlements and trials: We can explain how much we think your case is worth, based on your medical bills, income loss, physical pain, and mental anguish, and all other damages; based on what similar cases have resolved for in the past; and other factors. The decision whether to accept or reject a settlement is entirely yours. If your case does proceed to a jury trial, we can conduct a dry run, so you know what to expect.

What factors can add to your mental health challenges?

Generally, the more serious your injuries are, the more stress you’re likely to experience. Injuries that are catastrophic or permanent generally require more time for doctors to treat you and more time to help you understand the medical care and emotional challenges you’ll face after the resolution of your case.

More serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, paralysis, loss of limb, or burn injuries, often add layers of stress.

Another factor that is likely to affect your stress level is whether liability is clear or contested. Rear-end cases, where the driver in the rear is almost always responsible, are generally less stressful than contested accidents where the liability of the defendant is in doubt or where the defendant may claim that you’re partially responsible.

Who can help me with my mental health anguish?

Many people can help you with the emotional trauma of a personal injury claim. Our lawyers can advise you about all aspects of your case. We can also work with your doctors and recommend doctors to help ensure you’re receiving the psychological help you need. Professional psychologists and psychiatrists can help you with everything that is upsetting you regarding your health, your legal claim, and any other issues.

Why you should work with a psychologist

• You can confide with a professional about what is going on in your mind
• They are excellent at helping patients work through the stress, fear, and changes in their lives
• They will tell your story to a jury in such a way that it is clearly understood in an impactful way
• They take the mental weight off of you, and help you carry the burden of loss

Friends, family, and coworkers often provide encouragement and support.

There are support groups for some specific types of injuries. We can help you find these resources. A few examples include the following:

• Home – Amputee Coalition
• Support Groups – Brain Injury Florida
• Burn Survivor Connect – Tampa General Hospital

Documentation of your mental health care

Appointments with medical professionals and support groups (like MADD Mothers Against Drunk Driving) are important. Confirmation of your mental health treatments and support is one of the factors insurance companies consider when deciding what settlement to make. Documentation of these injuries (and the testimony of healthcare professionals) also helps to convince juries just how serious your mental difficulties are. At MattLaw we have a saying that goes like this: “The insurance companies and juries won’t believe what you or your lawyers say are your injuries, but they will believe what is in your medical records and what your doctors say.”  This is why it is so important to go to the right doctors, and keep your appointments.

Get help from our compassionate Tampa personal injury lawyers today

Injuries are life changing and upsetting. Without proper treatment, they can be emotionally devastating. MattLaw Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers has helped thousands of accident victims obtain full, fair, and strong recoveries, while also focusing on each victim’s anxiety and emotional trauma. Call us now or fill out our contact form to schedule a free consultation. We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis.