How Using A Pain Journal Benefits Both You And Your Personal Injury Case
Personal injury lawyers often recommend that accident victims use a pain journal to help them deal with the after-effects of a car accident. When an accident victim is dealing with injuries that were not their fault and all the rest of the problems that come with an accident, using a pain journal serves multiple purposes and will pay off in many ways. To find out more about this way of coping with an accident and how it can directly impact your case in a positive way, read on.
Emotional Health is Linked to Physical Health
Recuperating from an injury can take a lot of self-determination and support of loved ones. It's all too easy to let fears of never getting your life back to normal again take over. It is the emotional aspects of a car accident that often lead to victims being depressed, anxious, and more. Many victims are not prepared for the way physical injuries and the lasting trauma of a car accident can affect vital areas of their life like sleeping, eating, and personal relationships. Emotional health must be addressed if victims are to fully recover from the accident. Speak to your personal injury lawyer about seeking help from mental health experts — and having the at-fault driver pay for it.
Emotional Health Can Be Linked to Medical Costs
Many have heard the term "pain and suffering" but not understood it. This area of compensation falls into what is known as non-economic damages. Economic damages might be things like your vehicle repair, medical bills, and lost wages. Pain and suffering encompass all the damage done by the accident with a primary focus on the emotional aspects of healing from an injury. It should be no surprise that the dollar amount of medical treatment costs figures prominently in the monetary calculation for pain and suffering.
Using a Pain Journal to Document Your Pain and Suffering
As mentioned above, using a pain journal can serve many purposes and all of them help your case. One of the first things many accident victims notice is problems with their short-term memory. This is common with injuries and trauma and is usually of a temporary nature. Using a journal, however, may help you to recall important events when needed later on. When you speak to a personal injury lawyer, when you participate in a deposition, and when you testify at your trial, you may need to refresh your memory. Also, some psychologists believe that using a journal to record thoughts and fears has a therapeutic effect.
You might use your journal to record the side-effects of medication, the stress of the financial strain of missing work, or just your daily struggles toward health and well-being. You might be surprised at how helpful this action can be. To find out more, speak to an auto accident lawyer about what can help your case.