Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: An Accident Aftermath

Los Angeles’s busy district makes it one of the hardest hit areas in terms of car accident occurrences. Along with this are the increasing encounters of Los Angeles auto accident attorneys of personal injury lawsuits not really pertaining to “physical injuries” but to “psychological” ones.

It is normal that in the aftermath of an accident, an individual who is directly involved in it may experience a “shaken-up” feeling. Some may still think too much about the accident and knock themselves out of self-blame. Others may have sleepless nights, and even those who are not directly involved may experience the same psychological phenomena specifically if the accident affected their loved ones.

However, if these symptoms last longer than usual, then a psychologist can seriously consider Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a possible result of the accident on the individual. To diagnose a valid PTSD, one must have the following:

* A confirmed exposure to a traumatic event. In this case a car accident which causes him to lose “physical integrity” because of the extensive risk involved in losing some crucial physical functions.

* Must have persistent “re-experiencing” where in the victim still dreams about the accident, has flashback memories and what-not.

* Avoiding anything that has to do with the accident, or anything that may remind him of the accident.

* Restlessness.

* The symptoms have been on-going for more than a month.

* The psychological distress causes the patient significant inability to function well.

All of these things can happen in an auto accident, where the world may already crumble in the eyes of those involved. The condition is also common whenever a death of a loved one is involved.

The trauma induced and the amount of psychological damage that the accident has caused is answerable through the same means as a normal personal injury lawsuit would. A Los Angeles auto accident attorney can certainly help specifically in cases where the person involved is a victim of an automobile accident.