After a person has been injured as a result of a traumatic event, such as a motor vehicle accident, nursing home abuse, or an assault due to negligent security, they often seek pain and treatment for damages in a personal injury claim.
Serious incidents often leave victims with multiple injuries that require long-term medical care, rehabilitation, counseling and other forms of support. Their injuries may impact daily life or have lifelong consequences that alter daily life and independence.
What is the difference between pain and injury
Pain and suffering damages extend beyond the objective costs associated with medical bills and lost wages. They are entirely subjective.
Injury victims have a responsibility to express their pain and its impact on their lives and well-being. The jury must then form an opinion on the merits of the case based on the victim's testimony and the opinions of jurists. A collective perspective on their pain and suffering.
However, evidence can help quantify the extent of an injured victim's suffering and the harm they deserve. Attorneys use medical records, photos, videos, diaries, and testimony to show the specific ways a person's life has been affected, both physically and emotionally.
Types of pain and suffering
Pain and suffering can affect a person's life in many different ways. Remember, in addition to a claim for economic losses (such as lost income and medical bills), you must also claim for pain and suffering damages.
We have divided examples of pain and suffering damages that a person can claim in a lawsuit into three categories: physical, emotional, and social.
physical pain and suffering
Bodily pain and suffering refers to external and visible harm to the body, as well as internal harm caused by an accident or incident. This type of aches and pains is best supported by photos, medical records, physical therapy notes, and medication history.
Bodily Pain: Any physical injury that causes mild to severe discomfort after an accident or altercation.
Physical Impairment: Any injury that limits the ability to move, coordinate actions, or perform daily activities.
Disfigurement: Accidents that cause permanent damage or changes to a person's body or appearance (such as loss of an ear or deep scarring) would be classified as disfigurement.
Emotional pain and suffering
Emotional pain and suffering refers to the impairment or change in a person's mental state or personality following an accident or traumatic event. These changes often leave victims feeling distressed, depressed, hopeless, or miserable. Emotional pain can be just as debilitating and frustrating as physical injuries.
Mental anguish: Mental anguish includes anxiety, depression, anguish, fear, sadness or lasting psychological trauma following an accident or incident.
Emotional distress: Like mental anguish, emotional distress can include many different feelings and types of pain and suffering following a traumatic event, such as shock, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), nightmares, and anger.
Fright: Any accident, event or injury that causes extreme fear and affects the life of another person may be eligible for Fright compensation.
Shock: The psychological damage caused by experiencing an accident or witnessing horrific injuries in an accident.
Phobia: Intense fear of further injury, disability, or death following an accident (may manifest as panic attacks).
Nervousness: A change in behavior or personality in which an injured victim becomes extremely uneasy or unnaturally nervous.
Worry: The incident causes fear or uncertainty that something bad might happen, limiting the victim's ability to live a normal life.
Anxiety: A general feeling or sensation of worry and uneasiness about uncertain events or outcomes. If anxiety stems from an accident or an argument, it can become a pain and suffering.
Humiliation: Feeling ashamed, injured self-esteem, or extremely embarrassed after a life-changing event (usually false imprisonment).
Embarrassment: Similar to humiliation, embarrassment is the feeling of shame and humiliation caused by an event or an incident that occurs afterwards.
Anger: Anger can be considered a loss if an event or incident results in ongoing anger due to severe mental anguish and suffering that did not exist before the event.
Grief: The deep sorrow or sadness that follows the loss of a loved one. If an accident results in the death, loss, or destruction of something or someone they value, they may be able to recover non-economic damages for grief.
Depression: If a person experiences a severe and sudden personality change that affects the way they feel, behave and think, they may be able to recover compensation for depression in a personal injury claim.
social pain and suffering
Social pain and suffering is when a victim experiences loss or suffering that is directly caused by another person or that results from an injury that negatively affects their social activities and relationships. This type of loss can cause a person to feel isolated, worthless, or a burden to others.
Humiliation: After an incident, a person feels humiliated, demeaned, and made to look stupid.
Insult: When a person's dignity and self-esteem are insulted or damaged following an accident or argument, an insult may be considered a form of non-financial harm. Examples of insults include vulgarity, abuse, abusive language, and deliberate disrespect by others.
Reputation harm: Defined when someone makes a false statement about a victim’s reputation that causes their friends, family, or community to have an unfavorable opinion of them.
Inconvenience: Victims may claim inconvenience as a type of pain and suffering if the event or accident causes difficulty, injustice, or interferes with the ability to carry out daily activities, work, or interact with loved ones.
Ordeal: A painful, traumatic, or frightening situation that lasts for a long time or lasts longer than expected.
Loss of Fun/Quality of Life: When an event significantly changes a person’s life or ability to participate in activities and hobbies that they enjoyed before the injury, they may be compensated for: Loss. For example, paralysis or traumatic brain injury may reduce a person's ability to enjoy life; therefore, they can claim a diminished quality of life.
Loss of Companionship: Also known as loss of consortium, this type of pain and suffering occurs when the victim loses the ability to express appropriate affection and care for their spouse and children.
Sexual Dysfunction: If a victim has difficulty returning to normal levels of sexual activity after an accident, they may experience sexual dysfunction as a form of pain and suffering.
How much compensation can you get for pain and suffering?
There are no predetermined amounts or guidelines for estimating the amount of pain and damage a victim may expect to suffer. Indemnity amounts, claim types and loss caps depend on the occurrence of the event .
A jury should award fair damages to a plaintiff suing for pain and suffering. If a judge decides that pain and suffering damages are too low or too high, they may modify the amount, although this is uncommon.
Contact a personal injury attorney for pain and suffering solutions
Solutions for pain and suffering are determined on a case-by-case basis. By consulting and hiring an experienced personal injury attorney.
Your physical pain and emotional pain should not be ignored. You deserve a top-notch settlement that takes care of you and your family.
To learn more about filing a personal injury claim for pain and suffering, contact a law firm.
