What Qualifies as Pain and Suffering?

“Pain and suffering” refers to the emotional damages that a personal injury victim can suffer in the wake of an accident.

Because personal injury compensation is about making the plaintiff “whole” again through the awarding of compensatory damages, pain and suffering and other emotional damages like them can come to represent cash compensation.

Continue reading below to learn more about what qualifies as pain and suffering and how a San Diego personal injury lawyer can fight to include them in your damages.

Emotional Pain and Suffering

The fact that you can’t glimpse the mental toll an accident can have on you from the outside doesn’t make this loss any less real.

In the context of personal injury, pain and suffering may refer to mental and psychological distress, including:

Anxiety
Depression
Worry
Anger
Grief
Hopelessness
Loss of quality or enjoyment of life

This form of loss, while invisible, is still debilitating.

Physical Pain and Suffering

Emotional pain and suffering aren’t the only things that matter after an accident. The physical wounds you suffer from an accident can also take a major toll on the body.

Chronic pain is an unfortunate side effect of many of the injuries that personal injury victims can experience. If you’ve suffered:

Spinal cord injury
Amputation
Partial or total disability
Traumatic brain injury
Burns
Nerve damages
Or other injuries

then you could be entitled to physical pain and suffering compensation.

Pain and Suffering in Wrongful Death Cases

The death of a close family member, such as a parent or spouse, could also qualify you for pain and suffering damages.

This is because the grief and suffering that a family can feel due to the missing companionship, guidance, love, and even physical contact from a missing family member can be extraordinary.

If you’re unsure about the value of the pain and suffering damages you’ve suffered, an experienced attorney can help.

Get Compensated for Your Pain and Suffering

Don’t let the insurance company give you anything less than fair compensation for your real pain and suffering after an accident. The Kindley Firm, APC can help.

Call us at 619-550-1313 or fill out the form below to get more information and to request your free consultation.