For many of us, we think about our emotional health less than our physical health. We get physical checkups and dental checkups, but we don’t seem to think about a psychological checkup. Physical pain can always go away, but emotional pain can linger on and at times be unpredictable, so it’s absolutely worth your attention. But, does emotional pain count as a personal injury case? Let’s discuss a couple of emotional distress claims, and refer to professionals like Hasner Law to help you understand emotional law as it relates to personal injury.
The Seriousness of Emotional Pain
Anything can offset emotional pain, such as the death of a loved one, someone trying to harm you, or even especially memories from your past i.e. troubled relationships. Not to mention, someone can say something negative or criticize you and have your emotions all over the place.
Sometimes, we think we can just shake words or feelings off and it will go away. Unfortunately, that’s not the case all the time.
Depression, lack of energy, and being withdrawn are all signs of emotional pain. Emotional pain is just as hurtful and real as physical pain, which means it may also count as a personal injury case in some instances because emotional pain can also affect your health. What are your rights when it comes to emotional pain/distress?
- Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (NIED) is basically, a personal injury claim that surfaces when a person (the defendant) acts so carelessly that she or he must compensate a person who claims they’ve been injured mentally or emotionally. The defendant would have had to do something wrong that would connect and relate to the plaintiffs emotional distress. The plaintiff must also suffer from physical symptoms in order for the lawsuit to be successful. However, make sure to check your state’s laws before filing your claim.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
The most common used definition for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) is “one who by extreme and outrageous conduct intentionally or recklessly causes severe emotional distress to another is subject to liability for that emotional distress and for any bodily harm that results from it.” In other words, if a person purposefully does something that is so awful and severe to another person.
That person can sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress and will be able to recover damages simply because they are in pain and are suffering. If the emotional distress gets to the point where it’s making the person ill and they incur other physical problems or issues, that person will most certainly be able to recover damages from this type of harm.
If you are in a situation such as this, it’s important to seek help or assistance. Emotional distress can lead to other physical problems that can affect your overall health. Check to see what your options are in the state that you live in and go from there.
Do you know your legal rights where you live?
My fiancé said this is horse ****. I strongly disagree. Emotional abuse is inebriating and should count for a personal injury case in my opinion.
This post must have made for quite the discussion between the two of you then! I tend to lean your way ;)
Interesting, but except in extreme circumstances these would be hard to pursue. We can all at some point in our lives point to another person as the reason for our distress. In some cases, as our bully. Even those who were once close to us can become our most terrible, but do we become a society of ‘victims’ who sue because someone hurt us?
i am not women but as a man i admit that women’s are always victim
Interesting and important article, Christy, especially with the prevalence of bullying and harassment.