Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After a Commercial Truck Accident

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that develops after experiencing a traumatic event. PTSD is most often associated with military duty, and particularly serving in combat, but it can also develop in individuals who are involved in serious accidents, including truck accidents.

PTSD is not always easy to identify after someone has been involved in an accident with a commercial truck. Physical injuries are often apparent immediately or shortly after the accident, and they can usually be diagnosed with an x-ray, MRI, or other types of tests.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, on the other hand, can take several weeks or longer to manifest. And to make matters worse, many people are not aware of the signs and symptoms of PTSD, which results in many cases being undiagnosed and untreated.

Another issue for those who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder after a truck accident is that the insurance company is often reluctant to pay for PTSD treatment, and they almost certainly will not want to provide any compensation for the emotional distress that this condition causes. This is why it pays to have an experienced trucking accident lawyer handling your case.

At Bailey, Javins & Carter, L.C., we have been standing up for clients who have been injured in truck accidents for half a century, and we have a successful track record of recovering full and fair compensation even in complicated cases like these. When we take on a case, we look at all potential contributing factors, and we explore any available legal avenues that will allow our clients to be compensated for all of their losses, including emotional distress from conditions such as PTSD.

If you have been injured in a commercial truck accident in Georgia, call our Atlanta office today at 678-981-5370 or message us online for a free consultation and case evaluation.

PTSD After a Truck Accident

Accidents with tractor-trailers are often traumatic events for those who end up on the wrong end of a semi. This can cause them to end up with PTSD. Frightening experiences like these can remain in a victim’s mind for years to come, during which they may regularly re-live the accident.

During the accident itself, the body releases adrenaline and other hormones to respond to what is happening; and although this response is very useful at the time, it can produce long-term stress and fear, symptoms which are associated with PTSD.

Signs and Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

For individuals who have experienced a serious truck accident, it is helpful to be able to recognize some of the signs and symptoms of PTSD:

• Re-Living/Repeating the Event: PTSD sufferers often have periods where they have flashbacks and “re-live” the event in their minds with all of the same emotions that they experienced at the time. There may be certain triggers that bring back these memories, such as seeing, hearing, feeling, or even smelling something that reminds them of the traumatic event.
• Repressed Feelings: Emotional numbness is a coping mechanism that some PTSD sufferers use to protect themselves from painful memories. But when someone represses their feelings, it can negatively impact relationships with loved ones and make it difficult to find pleasure in activities they once enjoyed.
• Avoidance: Because various stimuli trigger the negative emotions associated with the traumatic event, those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder often start going out of their way to avoid people, places, activities, and events that might produce these stimuli. This can show itself as anti-social behavior.
• Anxiety: Those who suffer PTSD from a workplace accident most often find themselves experiencing ongoing anxiety because they are on alert and worried that another traumatic event might occur. This hyper-alertness can also produce other effects, such as irritability, unjustified anger, self-destructive behavior, obsessive-compulsive behavior, difficulty sleeping, and depression.

Compensation for PTSD from a Truck Accident Injury

When a truck accident claim is file more intangible and difficult to quantify, which is another reason why is important to work with a firm that has the proven ability recover the maximum amount of compensation for those who sustain traumatic trucking accident injuries.