Serious car accidents can easily have lasting impacts on victims—both physical and mental. Unfortunately, it is very possible to you to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being involved in a serious car accident. Here’s why among other details:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Explained
“PTSD is an anxiety disorder that often follows a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury, or threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others.”
Some of the symptoms of PTSD include:
- Re-experiencing the trauma.
- For instance, invasive thoughts about what happened or distressing dreams about the event.
- Persistently avoiding thinking about or getting into situations associated with the crash.
- For example, being reluctant or completely refusing to drive, actively circumventing thoughts about the event.
- Numbing emotional responses.
- This includes significantly reduced or absent emotions or feeling disconnected from others.
- Heightened physical arousal.
- This may be an exaggerated startle response, increased irritability, or sleep disturbances.
Presence of PTSD in Car Accident Survivors
About 25-33% of serious car accident victims experience PTSD at least 30 days after getting into a car crash. According to one study, 7.4% of those involved in serious accidents experienced lifelong PTSD. Additionally, car accidents were the number one cause of PTSD in survey respondents.
This data suggests that PTSD may impact anywhere from 2.5 to 7 million people in the United States, which reflects a significant public health issue.
We Can Help
If you’ve developed PTSD or other injuries as a result of a car accident that wasn’t your fault, we want to see that you get the compensation you deserve. Let our skilled team here at Briggle & Polan, PLLC see if we can help you recover it.
Call our firm today at (512) 400-3278 or fill out the online contact form to learn more about your options.
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