When someone is in a car accident, medical accident, fall accident, or another circumstance that causes injury or illness, they may experience emotional distress. This distress can take many forms but is always serious.
There are five primary things to know about emotional distress lawsuits or lawsuits involving emotional distress as a loss.
1. Emotional Distress Is Just One of Many Damages in a Lawsuit
In the personal injury space, we don’t typically refer to “emotional distress lawsuits.” Instead, our firm handles lawsuits that involve emotional distress. Our clients often have damages in addition to their emotional distress, which may include:
- Medical expenses
- Various forms of pain and suffering (including but not limited to emotional distress)
- Property damage
- Lost income
- Decreased earning power
- Expenses for treating their psychological and emotional trauma
Each case is different, so every client’s damages are unique. As our firm evaluates your emotional distress and related conditions, we’ll evaluate (and value) every other damage you’ve suffered.
2. Emotional Distress Encompasses Different Conditions and Reactions
Healthline explains there is no single definition of emotional distress. In the context of a lawsuit, emotional distress could refer to:
- Emotions: Specific emotions, such as anger, sadness, and despair, generally qualify as emotional distress. While nobody lives an emotionally perfect life, emotional distress typically arises from a specific instance caused by negligence—like a motor vehicle accident.
- Diagnosable conditions: Conditions for which you receive a diagnosis—depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) being examples—may qualify as emotional distress.
- Other hardships and difficulties: Someone who suffers injuries in a motor vehicle accident may have recurring thoughts or memories that prevent them from sleeping well. A person with an illness caused by toxic exposure may lose quality of life, and this may lead to thoughts of suicide. Such hardships may qualify as emotional distress.
Fortunately, we have a term, “pain and suffering,” that captures all feelings and conditions that could qualify as emotional distress. So, even if a symptom does not technically qualify as emotional distress, it may entitle you to compensation.
3. Various Circumstances Can Cause Emotional Distress
As our law firm has served clients for more than 30 years, we’ve seen many circumstances produce emotional distress. These circumstances include:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Slip and falls
- Trip and falls
- Other accidents resulting from dangerous premises
- Workplace accidents (including construction accidents and work-related motor vehicle collisions)
- Assaults allowed by negligent security
- Medical errors (including delayed diagnoses, misdiagnoses, surgical errors, and birth injuries)
- The loss of a loved one
These are not the only circumstances that lead to emotional distress. They are, however, some of the practice areas we handle for our clients. If you’ve suffered an injury, developed an illness, or lost a loved one, we may be able to get justice for you.
4. You Can Seek Compensation for Emotional Distress (and Related Damages)
Those suffering emotional distress do not always know their options. Sometimes, you have the option of getting compensation for your distress. Having an attorney from our firm lead your lawsuit is one possible path to that compensation.
Getting money for your emotional distress may help by:
- Enacting justice for the harm you’ve suffered: If you have ever experienced emotional distress, you wouldn’t wish it on anyway. Therefore, if someone acted in any way that caused your emotional distress, they should be accountable for the harm they’ve caused you.
- Helping cover medical treatment: You may need medical intervention for symptoms related to your emotional distress. Liable parties may cover the expense of such evaluation and treatment.
- Helping cover mental health treatment: If you take medication, undergo an evaluation, go to therapy, or receive any other treatment for your emotional distress, liable parties may cover the cost of care. This can provide further financial relief.
- Relieving the stress of your professional damages: Those who experience anxiety, depression, or other types of emotional distress may be unable to work. This typically prevents them from earning a living and causes immense financial stress. By getting compensation, you may find much-needed relief from the pressure of lost income.
Anyone can seek compensation for emotional distress. However, not anyone can secure that compensation. Consider hiring our attorneys from our firm to fight for the money you deserve.
5. An Attorney Can Fight for the Money You Deserve
Personal injury lawyers seek fair compensation for clients experiencing emotional distress. Nearly every client we represent has some degree of emotional distress—even if they do not recognize that distress before speaking with our team.
You can hire our firm to seek the money you deserve. Then, simply continue to rest and recover as we fight for your financial recovery. Our services include:
- Obtaining mental health records documenting your various forms of emotional distress
- Hiring experts to testify further about your emotional distress
- Documenting any other damages you’ve suffered because of the event that caused you emotional distress
- Assigning a monetary value to your emotional distress and other damages
- Securing evidence of liability for the event(s) that caused your emotional distress
- Filing your lawsuit and all related paperwork
- Leading communications throughout your case
- Negotiating a settlement
- Taking your case to trial (if need be)
Our legal team prepares every case as if it is going to trial. We’re never caught flat-footed, as we’re constantly working to build the strongest possible case.
We May Face a Deadline for Seeking Money for Your Emotional Distress
Our team may have a limited time to file your emotional distress lawsuit. Michigan and other states have statutes of limitations for filing cases like yours, and we must honor them.
Once you decide to seek fair compensation for your emotional distress, do not wait one more second to contact our compassionate attorneys.
Call Christensen Law Today for a Free Consultation About Your Emotional Distress Lawsuit
The Christensen Law team has been fighting for clients with emotional distress and other damages since 1991. When you hire Christensen Law, you get a legal team that, quite simply, is not like other firms. We’re transparent, compassionate, and relentless in our pursuit of compensation. While we’ve highlighted things to know about emotional distress lawsuits, we can review the specifics regarding your case when we learn more about your situation. Call Christensen Law today at 248-900-9000 for your free consultation.
