Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Following a Car Accident

Some recent studies have shown that annually, somewhere between 10 and 45 percent of car accident victims develop PTSD to varying degrees.

In addition to physical injuries resulting from a serious car accident, victims are also at an increased risk of developing psychological problems, most commonly, PTSD. Post traumatic stress disorder is a condition that many car accident victims present symptoms of. In fact, car accidents are the leading cause of PTSD. However, these symptoms can oftentimes be overlooked or go unreported by the victims and are therefore untreated.

What is PTSD?
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that commonly follows a traumatic event like the threat of serious injury or death either to oneself or another person. When the brain is unable to turn off fight or flight reactions and anxieties, the condition becomes disruptive to people’s lives, sometimes to an extraordinary degree that can be just as impactful as any physical injury. After a serious auto accident symptoms of PTSD can be present as persistent thought about the accident, psychologically re-experiencing it, feeling compelled to avoid activities that the brain associates with the accident, a feeling of detachment or numbness, or increased physical arousal that is disruptive.

How PTSD can affect your life
PTSD does not look the same for every person suffering from it. Some individuals may have bad dreams, some may have hallucinations, some may get crippling anxiety around crowds of people, while others have vivid, uncontrollable flashbacks which force them to relive the traumatic accident. In some rare cases, the paranoid ideations people experience can cause people to want to hurt themselves.

Some recent studies have shown that annually, somewhere between 10 and 45 percent of car accident victims develop PTSD to varying degrees. About 40 percent of people who suffer from a traumatic event develop PTSD symptoms and around 8 percent of the population of the United States meets the qualifying criteria for having PTSD. Women suffer from PTSD more often than men do, and people who already suffer from depression are more likely to develop PTSD.

PTSD Treatment
Because PTSD can be so different from patient to patient, it is important that doctors tailor treatment to the individual. Treatments can include therapy and medication or a combination of the two. While some cases of PTSD can be resolved more quickly than others, it is not unusual for treatment to be ongoing and weeks, if not months.

What to do if you think you have PTSD
If you have been in a traumatic auto accident and believe you might have PTSD you should tell your doctor as soon as possible. Updating your doctor about your psychological and emotional state is as important as keeping him or her apprised of your physical well being. Additionally, if you eventually plan to seek compensation or file a lawsuit relating to the accident, it is crucial that there are records of all of your injuries, including your PTSD.

Contact a Car Accident Lawyer

After you seek medical attention you should consult with an experienced Missouri car accident lawyer. Medical treatment can be very costly, and recovering compensation for medical expenses is important. Allow an experienced auto accident attorney to advocate for you and pursue the maximum amount of compensation that you are entitled to.

Let The Hoffmann Law Firm take up the fight for you.