In personal injury cases, compensation for physical injuries and financial damages are the norm, but what happens when a plaintiff experiences intense psychological effects stemming from their injury? Emotional distress is a critical component of many personal injuries, but due to its ambiguous nature, it can be difficult to quantify financially. This blog discusses the methods used to calculate these damages to ensure that your non-economic damages are appropriately compensated.
What Is Emotional Distress in a Personal Injury Case?
Emotional distress refers to the psychological anguish and suffering that a person experiences as a result of a personal injury. This distress can include anxiety, depression, fear, insomnia, agoraphobia (difficulty leaving home), PTSD, and many other mental effects.
In personal injury cases, there are economic and non-economic damages. Medical bills and lost wages are examples of economic damages, while emotional distress falls under non-economic damages, meaning it doesn’t have a clear monetary value.
How Is Emotional Distress Proven in Court?
Emotional distress must first be proven before its value can be calculated. This proof can come from various sources:
- Medical records from healthcare professionals who witnessed the impact of your injury
- Testimonies from your friends, family, and coworkers about changes in your outlook and behavior
- Personal journals that document the emotional impact of the injury
- Expert testimony from mental health professionals
The more evidence you can provide, the stronger your claim for emotional distress damages will be.
How Is Emotional Distress Calculated?
There is no standard formula for calculating the monetary compensation for emotional distress. Every case is different, and every individual experiences emotional distress differently, so three methods can be used to calculate emotional distress damages depending on the circumstances.
How Does the Multiplier Method Work?
One of the most common approaches to emotional distress compensation involves taking the total of your economic damages and multiplying it by a number between 1.5 and 5, depending on the severity and duration of your mental distress. For example, if your economic damages total $50,000 and your evidence shows moderate distress, your multiplier may be 3, which equals $150,000 for emotional distress damages.
How Does the Per Diem Method Work?
This method assigns a daily rate to your emotional distress depending on the severity, as your evidence shows. This rate is then multiplied by the number of days that you have suffered from emotional distress. For example, your daily rate may be $200; if you’ve dealt with that distress for 180 days, your damages would be $36,000.
How Does the Financial Impact Method Work?
In cases of acute emotional trauma and suffering, the court may decide to calculate damages based on the actual costs of treating your emotional distress. The costs used in these calculations include therapy bills, psychiatrist consultations, medication, and lost wages due to the intensity of the distress. This method is typically only used when the plaintiff has been so severely traumatized that their distress requires the intervention of a mental health professional.
What Factors Influence Emotional Distress Calculations?
- The severity of the emotional distress. The more severe or long-lasting the emotional impact is, the more weight it will carry in calculations.
- Physical injuries. More evident and grievous physical injuries are more likely to cause significant emotional distress, primarily when the injuries have caused disfigurement or disability.
- Duration. Longer-lasting emotional impacts typically lead to higher damages.
- Impact. If emotional distress significantly affects one’s ability to work, maintain relationships, or enjoy one’s life, damages will likely be higher.
- Credibility. The more compelling evidence you provide of your emotional distress, the more likely you are to receive higher damages.
How Do Negotiations Affect Emotional Distress Damages?
While the calculation methods provide an adequate starting point, the final amount is often determined by negotiations between the plaintiff’s attorney and the defendant’s attorney or insurance provider.
Having a skilled personal injury attorney to manage these negotiations on your behalf can significantly affect the outcome. Bad faith practices will not sway them, and they can approach the situation without emotional bias. Your attorney will effectively navigate negotiations to secure the highest compensation for your emotional distress.
What Factors Influence Settlement Negotiations?
- The strength of your evidence can determine your power in a negotiation. The more concrete evidence you have, the higher your chance of getting better compensation.
- If the defendant’s liability is clear and easily proven through evidence, you will have more leverage in the negotiations as they cannot argue that they are not responsible.
- The defendant’s insurance policy may set a ceiling on your compensation. If your attorney believes this amount is inadequate, you may take the defendant to court for further damages.
- If you go to trial to seek emotional distress damages, the jury’s opinion of the case will influence their decision regarding the amount. Solid evidence plays a vital role in the jury’s deliberations.
How Can an Attorney Help Calculate Emotional Distress Damages?
Calculating emotional distress in personal injury cases is not an exact science, so having an attorney with experience in personal injury lawsuits is vital. If you’re experiencing severe emotional distress resulting from an injury caused by another person, you may be owed significant compensation.
Contact HHJ Trial Attorneys for a consultation with one of our expert personal injury attorneys so we can ensure that all aspects of your financial, physical, and psychological pain are correctly valued and compensated.
