What Are Non-Economic Damages?
As per Forbes Advisor, non-economic damages encompass the intangible losses endured as a result of your accident, including:
- Pain and Suffering
- Emotional Distress
- Diminished Quality of Life
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life
- Loss of Companionship or Consortium
- Permanent Disabilities, Impairments, or Disfigurements
Pain and Suffering
Severe injuries often result in unbearable pain, warranting compensation for the suffering endured due to the accident. While pain typically diminishes as injuries heal, there are instances where it persists chronically, enduring for years or becoming permanent.
Emotional Distress
Personal injury accidents often leave victims grappling with profound trauma, precipitating a cascade of mental health challenges. Among the array of psychological consequences are anxiety, depression, phobias, diminished mental capacity, concentration impairments, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Such afflictions may stem directly from the accident’s impact or emerge as secondary ramifications of resultant injuries and disabilities, underscoring the holistic toll these incidents exact on individuals’ well-being.
Diminished Quality of Life or Loss of Enjoyment of Life
For numerous personal injury survivors, confronting long-term or permanent injuries becomes an enduring reality, profoundly altering the trajectory of their lives. These injuries, which often deprive individuals of their former capabilities, can induce profound depression, particularly when they impede participation in once-beloved activities.
The loss of autonomy in navigating daily tasks can evoke emotional turmoil, fostering feelings of burdensomeness in families. Concurrently, the inability to maintain previous employment or income levels engenders financial strain, precipitating heartbreak as families grapple with the ensuing challenges.
Collectively, these losses reverberate through a person’s personality and worldview, accentuating the imperative of compensating their suffering.
Loss of Companionship or Consortium
Personal injuries have the potential to reshape relationships with loved ones, presenting hurdles such as the incapacity to physically express affection stemming from conditions like paralysis or amputation. Shifts in physical capabilities and enduring pain can strain relationships, altering perceptions of strength and reliability.
Seeking compensation becomes imperative to address the loss of intimacy and the shifting dynamics within these relationships catalyzed by the accident’s repercussions.
Permanent Disabilities, Impairments, or Disfigurements
Permanent injuries cast a profound and enduring shadow over multiple facets of life, permeating daily routines, relationships, and societal perceptions alike. Those grappling with such permanent impairments often contend with a spectrum of emotions, from frustration to humiliation and depression, exacerbated by the reactions of others, whether it be lingering stares or expressions of pity.
Compensation for permanent damage serves as a recognition of the substantial and enduring impact on the individual’s existence and overall well-being, acknowledging the long-term challenges they confront as they navigate life with their injuries.
