Recovering after the physical injuries have healed. California truck accident lawyer discusses mental and emotional damages.

One of the most overlooked aspects of a personal injury case is the emotional and mental damage caused by the accident, explains a California truck accident lawyer. While people often associate physical injuries with auto accidents, such as broken bones, torn ligaments, and concussions, they seldom think about the scars that do not appear on an MRI or a X-ray: the mental and emotional damage.

We recently settled a case in which the accident victims suffered long after their injuries had healed. A father and his son had been struck by a semi. For approximately five to ten minutes, the father assumed that his son had died, as a semi was sitting on the back of the vehicle after having been pushed on top of it by a second semi.

Although the father had serious physical injuries and the son had a long recovery period, both, for the most part, were able to resume their normal activities. However, the father’s disposition had changed: he found himself checking on his son constantly, even calling the school to see if he was all right. Moreover, his son was traumatized for about a year in terms of entering or riding in a vehicle. To this day, the father has problems with his son driving without him or driving on the freeway near other trucks.

Emotional and mental scars can last much longer and be more difficult to treat than physical ones. Traumatic experiences, accidents can have long-lasting effects on the lives of the victims: they may be scared to drive; they may wake up in the night with unexplained fears; or they could be clinically depressed as a result of injuries that continue to generate symptoms. Human beings are more than just tissues, bones, and muscles. We think and we feel. Sometimes those two faculties are more adversely affected by an accident than anything else.

A competent attorney should always discuss this aspect of the recovery process with the client. It is the attorney’s job to determine how mental and emotional changes have impacted a client’s life and make the jury and judge understand that these are real damages.

At Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie, we consider all aspects of a client’s recovery when building a case, seeking compensation not only for medical bills but also for pain and suffering.

For free legal assistance from a California truck accident lawyer, call 866-981-5596.