Can You Get PTSD From Personal Injury?

Can you get PTSD from personal injury? Yes, injuries can hurt your body, finances, and mind. D. Earlier, experts viewed PTSD as a condition caused by traumatic fear. But now, it is viewed as an emotionally disordered reaction to loss, pain, and suffering.

How Personal Injury Affect Your Mental Health

1. Some people develop PTSD, after experiencing or witnessing a trauma. PTSD can hurt your ability to do daily tasks. It can hurt your employment and relationships with friends and family.
2. Intense flashbacks, avoidance, and negative mood swings are the primary symptoms of PTSD from personal injury. Personal injury PTSD gets more complex when it pairs with anxiety, stress, drug abuse, and depression.
3. After an accident, it’s normal to have PTSD symptoms. But if these symptoms don’t heal, expert assistance is recommended.

There are numerous self-help techniques that you can use to combat PTSD.

Causes Where Personal Injury Leads to PTSD

Personal injury cases include the following incident:

• Car accidents
• Data breaches
• Bicycle accidents
• Workplace accidents

They are equally likely to become traumatic experiences for humans. You never know what might shatter the sense of security for humans around you.

These measures are proactive. They include fear, avoidance, fright, and mood swings. They also include hyperarousal and disengagement. Sometimes, they may even trigger their past experiences. This puts them back in a place they are running from.

Our advice is to watch yourself closely. If you notice any of these signs, ask our trauma psychologists for an expert opinion.

1. Road Traffic Accidents Can Lead To PTSD

Blackwater Law reports that 1 in 10 car accident victims get PTSD from personal injury. Any serious car accident would traumatise you because the event can be terrifying. If you or other survivors are in a life-threatening car accident or one with fatalities, your risk of personal injury PTSD is higher.

Even if the accident was out of the driver’s control, they could still hold themselves accountable. The passengers may be terrified of accidents and avoid driving again. Even the witnesses are at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms due to witnessing a traumatic event. Symptoms of PTSD from personal injury may include:

•  Despondency, guilt and irritability
•  Anxiety, nervousness and stress
• Vulnerability, numbness and avoidance behaviours
•  Flashbacks and nightmares – reliving the car accident
• Interruptions to previous routines and lifestyle

2. Housing Disrepair Can Lead To PTSD

 “There is no place like home “ 

John Payne

but what if your home is the reason behind your depreciating mental health? In the social rented sector, 10% of households are living in non-decent accommodation.

Since residents have to compromise their mental health, legal agencies assist those living in unfit homes. You no longer have to grin and bear it if you are trapped in a housing situation that makes you sick. The symptoms of PTSD from personal injury developed in poor housing conditions include:

• Physical sensations such as nausea or trembling
• Feeling helpless and guilty of your housing conditions
• Feeling as if you’re living a constant trauma
•  Negative mood swings, intrusive and harsh thoughts
• Reading, focusing, and concentration challenges

3. Bicycle Accidents Caused PTSD

There are risks involved in road cycling, though it shouldn’t be a frightening experience. Cycling may no longer be the exciting activity for PTSD patients due to a bicycle crash.

4. GDPR Data Breach Can Lead To PTSD

A breach of personal information can be very disturbing psychologically. If the organisation violates the data protection law, causing a breach of your privacy, and harming you.

A data breach may result in stress and anxiety disorders, avoidance issues, and in the worst cases, PTSD. A serious data breach’s “knock-on” effects could theoretically lead to high-stress levels and subsequent unfortunate life events with grave repercussions. Symptoms of PTSD may include:

• Disturbance and disruption in day-to-day activities
• Adjustment issues and generalised anxiety disorders
• Constantly feeling threatened for your safety
• Feeling spotlighted and losing the sense of privacy
• Nightmares, having trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping excessively

5. Slip/ Fall Accidents Can Lead To PTSD

Slipping and falling at a supermarket can lead to severe avoidance behaviours and constant stress. If you are at a supermarket and all you can think of is products and goods falling off the shelves and injuring you, you might need to address that fear. In other words, a constant fear of suffering and pain because someone else failed to maintain a safe space which caused you to trip and fall, might be PTSD.

However, not every trip-and-fall accident results in PTSD. But since every human has a variable response to traumas, you might develop PTSD. In such cases, you will require a formal diagnosis to confront and cope with these emotions. Thus, you cannot just say how the fall has affected you physically or emotionally. The symptoms may include:

• Reliving your trip and fall accident such that it makes you anxious
• Flashbacks that interfere with your day-to-day activities
• Avoiding places like supermarkets if you fall at a supermarket
• Being hyper aware and perceiving everything as a potential danger

Conclusion

If you feel you developed PTSD from personal injury, finding the right PTSD diagnosis is key. It helps you see how serious the issue is and if PTSD treatment is needed to fix it.

You might deserve compensation for your injuries. You can fight for a fair settlement or court ruling. It can include money for your injuries and PTSD. You can do this with a PTSD expert witness report.

For an expert witness report, contact us immediately to set up a free consultation! Or schedule a call back via (01282) 786 185 or drop an email at [email protected] today!