Don’t forget mental well-being after car accidents

Many people might have suffered the mental consequences of car accidents without linking them to the crash. Physical injuries like bruises, lacerations, broken bones, sprains and concussions are typically more apparent. However, the effects of mental trauma can persist long after the physical injuries have healed, but crash victims might not know what symptoms to look out for. 

Panic Attacks

Anxiety can be triggered when an accident victim remembers the accident, drives, is a passenger again, passes the site where the accident happened and more. Warning signs of an imminent panic attack include dizziness, shortness of breath, chest discomfort or pain, shaking, sweating, sickness or nausea. 

Depression

Feeling detached and lonely after a car accident often causes accident victims to withdraw with feelings of hopelessness and despair. Tension could arise at work and home, with the affected individual unable to overcome the accident trauma. If not diagnosed and treated, the consequences could be catastrophic. 

Insomnia 

The trauma of a car accident can also cause difficulty to fall asleep, restless sleep, interrupted sleep. Thoughts that race through accident victims’ minds when they close their eyes affects sleep quality.  It might cause them to reach for over-the-counter sleeping pills instead of medical treatment. 

PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder is not limited to the armed forces. Flashbacks and repeated visions of a car accident can lead to PTSD if it remains untreated. It’s a condition that can have life-altering consequences, and the longer it takes to get treated, the more harm it will cause to all aspects of the victim’s life. 

Victims of car accidents in British Columbia — or Seattle when Vancouver residents are on shopping or other trips across the border — might have grounds to pursue financial relief through the civil justice system. They would be advised to learn how long they have to file such a lawsuit, keeping in mind that mental trauma of any kind could require long-term treatment. In filing a personal injury lawsuit it’s crucial to include all claims for financial and emotional losses, currently as well as in the future.