Motor vehicle accidents often result in devastating physical injuries. Most people fail to realize that victims of high-speed motor vehicle collisions can suffer much more than physical injury. Car accidents can be psychologically traumatizing experiences with long-lasting and sometimes permanent effects on the psyche. The debilitating pain coupled with the financial stress caused by the accident often leads to high emotions including fear, anger, shock, denial, and worry. These feelings when left untreated can lead to more severe forms of depression and anxiety.
Pain can lead to Depression and Anxiety
The pain caused by injuries sustained in a car accident limits a person’s ability to live their life as they did prior to the accident.This pain often leads to mental illness when it is chronic—meaning that the pain lasts for months or even years after the accident. Chronic pain may limit a person’s ability to perform daily tasks such as:
- Getting out of bed in the morning to perform daily tasks;
- Maintaining employment;
- Maintaining self-hygiene;
- Caring and providing support for other family members; and,
- Maintaining financial security.
The inability to perform these tasks often leads to feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and desperation. The symptoms of depression include
- Low energy
- Mood swings
- Thoughts of suicide or even attempts at suicide
- Problems at work and school
- Stress on personal relationships, especially with immediate family
- Loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy
- Decreased mental clarity
- Irritability
- Weight gain
- Lack of self-confidence
Early diagnosis and treatment of anxiety and depression are essential to the healing process. If left untreated, the anxiety and depression can lead to a downward spiral that could have been prevented with proper diagnosis and treatment. (See also: Getting Well Again After A Car Accident)
Fear
It is also important to understand that a motor vehicle accident can cause the victim to become fearful. This is often the case when the accident was major and the injuries were severe. After the physical recovery has concluded, you’ll still need to recover mentally. Overcoming your fear will be vital. You may feel afraid of getting back into an automobile. It may take many months of counseling to finally overcome this problem. It is important to seek professional help. (See also: Top 5 Workouts You Can Do After A Car Accident)
Grief
There is also a good chance that you’re will experience grief, especially if another person was injured in the accident. If this is the case, it is going to take a long time to fully overcome your grief. Grief counseling may be necessary to ensure that you make it through the grieving process
Sorrow
Regardless of whether you caused the accident, there is a strong likelihood that you will experience some level of sorrow and remorse. You’ll wonder why something so terrible had to happen to you and your loved ones. These feelings may linger for a long time and may contribute chronic mental illness like depression. This is something that you will have to work through and overcome in order to live a normal life in the future. Again, it is pertinent to get therapy to escape the sorrow brought on by the accident.
What Can You do?
After suffering injuries from a motor vehicle accident, it is important to monitor your mental health as carefully as you do your physical health. The physical injuries manifest immediately and are normally treated right after the crash. It is common practice to seek medical treatment for accident-related injuries such as broken bones, brain injuries, sprains, strains and other soft tissue injuries. In fact, many physicians specialize in treating car accident victims. However, the mental health effects of the pain and stress from the accident are routinely ignored and not taken seriously. The symptoms of depression must be recognized rather than ignored.
It is important for individuals suffering from chronic pain and depression caused by car accident injuries to seek professional medical, financial, and legal help to ease some of these new burdens. Just like there are physicians who specialize in car accident related injuries, there are attorneys and financial advisors who do too. A good personal injury attorney will stay on top of your condition while making sure you are treated for both physical and psychiatric injuries.
About The Author:
Shakshi Talwar is an illustrated guide to Internet Marketing. Passionate about to helping people in all aspects of internet marketing. Enjoy holiday Tripping, Business ideas, Digital Marketing, Expert in Industry news.
