If you have ever watched day-time television, you likely have seen a lot of commercials about car accidents. These car accident commercials usually focus on serous physical injuries, like broken legs, traumatic brain injuries, lacerations, etc. However, what seldom makes the news, or these commercials, is the emotional trauma car accidents cause.
The initial emotional effects
Every one of the millions of car crashes each year has something in common: shock. Even if you see it coming, the fact that you are about to be in, and then, are in a motor vehicle accident it is shocking. Immediately, after the impact, many victims have trouble believing they were even in the car accident. This is immediately followed by fear, worry and nervousness.
Lingering emotional effects
After the initial feelings, restlessness creeps in. Your mind may become a repeating reel of the car accident that does not seem to stop. However, for most crash victims, if not all, of these feelings pass on their own with the flow of time. And, before you know it, your normal life returns.
What if the emotional trauma lingers too long?
Unfortunately, for some Illinois crash victims, these lingering effects do not go away. Even worse, who you are may begin to change, and those traumatic memories can change your day-to-day lives. When this happens, this may be post-traumatic stress (PTS).
Signs of post-traumatic stress
The first PTS sign could be your restlessness does not get better over time or increases steadily or severely after the car accident. This could be couples with nightmares and trouble sleeping. Another sign of PTS is your anxiety level while driving or riding in a car or truck. If you find it hard or impossible to drive or ride, this might be PTS.
As this anxiety, restlessness and lack of sleep continues, your level of irritability and anger will grow. This, of course, slowly makes you an entirely different person.
Get the help you need
If you see signs of PTS, do not ignore them. The longer you let these effects linger without help, the worse they become. This is why you should seek mental health services immediately. In addition, let your personal injury attorney know about your symptoms because these effects are compensable, including payment for those mental health services.