What Are the Long-Term Effects of Car Accident Injuries?

car accident injury long term effectsBeing involved in a car accident can be a traumatizing experience. The effects of a car accident can stick with you long after your injuries heal, affecting your ability to enjoy life and perform work.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Our car accident lawyers at Greg Coleman Law will investigate your claim and help you pursue the compensation you deserve. We will look at how your injury has affected you already and how the effects will impact you in the future in order to fight for maximum compensation. Request a free, no obligation consultation today.

Physical Effects

Car accidents can lead to a wide range of physical injuries, affecting any area of the body. Physical injuries that typically cause long-term effects include:

  • Paralysis
  • Amputation
  • Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
  • Soft tissue injuries

Car accident injuries to the brain, including TBIs, can have severe effects on the victim. These injuries can cause issues with memory, coordination and other functions.

Soft tissue injuries, such as whiplash, strains or sprains, impact the tissue that surrounds and connects tendons, muscles and ligaments. These injuries can cause long-term issues such as chronic pain and difficulty moving. Whiplash injuries can also cause long-term memory or cognitive function problems.

Emotional Effects

A traumatic car accident can affect you emotionally just as much as it can physically. Long-term emotional issues can impact your ability to work as well as your personal relationships.

Long-term emotional effects resulting from car accident injuries include:

  • Anxiety
  • Emotional distress
  • Depression
  • Humiliation
  • Shock
  • Embarrassment
  • Crying
  • Mood swings
  • Appetite loss
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Energy loss
  • Sexual dysfunction

The long-term emotional effects you suffer after a car accident injury can make it difficult for you to be in situations involving driving. You may experience persistent thoughts or dreams that force you to relive the accident, causing great distress.

Psychological Effects

As car accidents are often very traumatic to victims, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may develop. This condition can form after any type of trauma – while most people associate PTSD with life-threatening events like military combat, car accidents have also become a leading cause of the condition. An estimated nine percent of car accident survivors develop significant PTSD symptoms. 

PTSD can have severe impacts on your life and your ability to function properly, at home, with your friends, or doing pretty much anything, interfering greatly with everyday living.

Symptoms of PTSD include:

  • Nervousness
  • Fear
  • Anger
  • Irritability
  • Guilt
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Feelings of mistrust
  • Emotionally numbness
  • Nightmares of the accident
  • Flashbacks of the accident

Some of these feelings are normal ones that everyone may experience at one time or another. The difference is that with PTSD, these feelings do not go away, impacting every area of your life.

In addition to psychological effects, PTSD can cause you to suffer physical effects. High blood pressure and nausea may develop as symptoms of PTSD.

Contact a Lawyer After a Car Accident

When you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries after a car accident, it is important to speak with an attorney as soon as you can. A lawyer will determine the extent to which your injuries will affect you physically, emotionally and psychologically so he or she can pursue fair compensation on your behalf.

Get the compensation you deserve for your injuries by working with a skilled Knoxville car accident attorney. The experienced Knoxville personal injury attorneys at Greg Coleman Law will pursue liable parties, working to recover maximum compensation for your injuries.

Request a free, no obligation consultation today and learn what legal options are available after your car accident. There are no upfront fees or costs when you work with our firm, so there is no risk to you. We only get paid if we successfully recover compensation for you.

Call (865) 247-0080 or fill out our Free Case Evaluation form now.

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