Most civil lawsuits for injuries allege the wrongdoer was negligent. To win in a negligence lawsuit, the victim must establish 4 elements: (1) the wrongdoer owed a duty to the victim, (2) the wrongdoer breached the duty, (3) the breach caused the injury (4) the victim suffered damages.
To prove that you have suffered severe emotional distress due to another's wrongful conduct, you typically must provide evidence such as: Medical records showing that you were diagnosed with a mental health condition such as anxiety, depression, or PTSD after the triggering event.
Keep detailed records of your symptoms and how they impact your daily life. This includes physical issues, such as headaches or insomnia, as well as emotional symptoms like anxiety or depression. Also, keep a journal to document the impact of your distress on work, relationships, and overall quality of life.
Medical records that attest to the victim's injuries or diagnosis of mental health conditions, such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression, are among the most important pieces of evidence that prove emotional distress in court.
In claims of negligently inflicted psychiatric illness, the plaintiff's reaction to a traumatic event is usually measured against a standard of normal susceptibility and disposition. This measurement is used to determine the question of whether the defendant should have reasonably foreseen the plaintiff's injury.
The essential components of an emotional distress claim in personal injury law comprise extreme or outrageous conduct, intentional or reckless conduct, and severe emotional distress or injury. A claimant, upon verifying these components, can pursue compensation for damages related to their emotional distress.
To recover for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff usually has the burden to prove that 1) the defendant has acted intentionally or recklessly; 2) defendant's act was outrageous and extreme and 3) such act has caused the plaintiff's emotional distress.
However, the plaintiff must show that the defendant's action caused an ascertainable degree of mental pain and distress. The existence of grief, severe disappointment, indignation, wounded pride, shame, despair, or public humiliation may be used to prove such mental pain and distress.
The tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress has four elements: (1) the defendant must act intentionally or recklessly; (2) the defendant's conduct must be extreme and outrageous; and (3) the conduct must be the cause (4) of severe emotional distress.
There is no specific formula for calculating the amount of compensation you can recover for emotional distress in a personal injury case. The amount you can recover will depend on several factors, including the severity of your emotional distress and the impact it has had on your life.