In personal injury cases, the victims can be compensated for their pain and suffering. It's quite important for petitioners to understand what is regarded as pain and suffering in the court that is hearing the injury case. Read on for more insight.
Forms of pain and suffering
Victims of personal injury cases can suffer pain and suffering in various ways. Some general types of pain and suffering include:
Physical pain and suffering
This is the most notable type of pain and suffering. If you suffered injuries in a car mishap, you can experience physical pain due to the physical injuries sustained. This involves any pain and suffering directly resulting from the mishap, including pain experienced from a broken leg. It also covers the painful effects that you are likely to experience in future due to the accident.
Mental or psychological anguish
This is another form of pain and suffering. This type of damage is more psychological and includes metal stress, anxiety, humiliation and shock. For instance, in a dog bite incident, the victim can develop a great fear for animals in the aftermath of the attack. As a result, the victim may need to undergo counselling. In this case, both the financial aspect of the petition involving the mental counselling and the anxiety may be compensable. Similar to physical pain and suffering, the immediate and future consequences of the victim's pain are taken into consideration when deciding on compensation amount.
Loss of life enjoyment
A number of accidents cause a major impairment on the victim's life. In some instances, the victim may suffer from a medical condition that negatively affects all other facets of his or her life. For example, the injury may result in sexual dysfunction. Additionally, it may cause the victim to stop their favourite hobby. All these contribute to a loss of life enjoyment.
The value of pain and suffering damages
Determining pain and suffering damages is not always easy because it's not based on something that's quantifiable, like medical expenses, property damage or lost earnings. Such damages end up being subjective in nature. Many juries often use their own experience, background and beliefs to provide a just and reasonable compensation amount in favor of the plaintiff or victim.
Legal assistance
In order to get a higher compensation amount for your pain and suffering damages, the key is to prove that you have suffered all the above mentioned forms of pain and suffering. Personal injury lawyers come in handy in assisting victims prove all these damages resulting from the negligence of another party.
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