Pain & Suffering

South Dakota/Wyoming/Nebraska

Physical & Emotional Pain

A key component of damages is showing you have experienced "pain and suffering".

Unlike lost wages or payment of medical bills, pain and suffering and what it's worth is subjective. In other words, one jury may find that it's worth one amount and another could come up with a greatly increased or reduced dollar amount.

Pain and suffering may cover a wide variety of ailments because it includes not just the pain or suffering you experienced immediately following your injury, but also any additional pain and suffering. It may also include ongoing physical, mental or emotional pain.

Physical Pain

When a person is involved in a car accident, he/she may immediately experience an injury from broken glass and need stitches or other immediate medical care. However, weeks later, may experience continuing pain, such as a sore back or neck, as a result of the crash. This later injury will be included in pain and suffering.

To prove physical pain and suffering, a good personal injury attorney will highlight statements from medical records. In addition, it's common for family members and friends to testify as to what they observed about the injured person as compared to before their accident.

Mental or Emotional Pain

Aside from the more obvious physical pain you may experience from your accident, it is also possible to include any mental or emotional anguish that you experience as a result.

When a person is involved in a traumatic car accident, he/she may have immediate and long-term physical pain. However, he/she may also experience anxiety or fear from the accident. He/She may be frightened of traveling in a car. He/She may be experiencing embarrassment or humiliation because the accident has left him/her debilitated or scarred.

The following are examples of mental or emotional suffering you may incur because of an injury:

1. Depression
2. Anxiety
3. Fear
4. Humiliation or embarrassment
5. Grief
6. Shock
7. Nervousness

Measuring Pain and Suffering

Physical pain or emotional suffering from an injury may have a permanent and lasting effect on a person's life and livelihood. They can result in shortened life span, temporary or permanent limitations on activities, unemployment and unhappiness.

There are no absolute means of measuring a person's pain and suffering. There are also no real guidelines for weighing a plaintiff's pain and suffering to follow. Therefore, the plaintiff must simply try to proffer the best evidence of the effects his injury has had on him/her economically, physically, mentally, and on a daily basis.

If you have been injured due to another’s negligence, you have the right to fair compensation. Contact the personal injury attorneys of Moore·Faust Injury Law Group for a free consultation.

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