Few people expect as serious diagnosis as PTSD from a crash. Even a crash that seemed relatively minor can leave a person psychologically unable to resume day-to-day life. What you should expect in working with your diagnosis after a crash will depend entirely on you.
The high risk of developing PTSD after a car accident is only increasing. Many doctors realize that what seems like a temporary anxiety disorder is actually a serious case of PTSD. If you develop PTSD from a crash, contact an experienced car wreck attorney in Virginia Beach today.
Understanding PTSD from a Crash
For the extent of time, people thought that PTSD was limited to cases like shell-shock. People coming back from war, or people who lost a child were the ones that received PTSD diagnoses. However, as we’re learning more about PTSD, it’s coming to light that a traumatic accident, assault, or even feeling assaulted during an accident can lead to the onset of PTSD.
PTSD is a drastic change in the brain’s core functions. Instead of working in an observe and adapt mode, it changes to an almost exclusive survival mode where most things pose a flight-or-fight response. If you’ve driven for any long extent of time or had your license for a few years, then starting the ignition shouldn’t jump start that survival instinct. Additionally, a set of brake lights shouldn’t spur the fight-or-flight response either. But it often does in people with PTSD.
What Happens During PTSD?
When you’re living with PTSD, it can seem alarming that there is a risk that PTSD can get worse over time. However, with good self-care and monitoring for mental health, PTSD can get better with time, and you can even overcome some of the biggest obstacles that are present. For example, if you simply can’t drive, then you may work with mental health therapists, take a defensive driving course, and more to ensure that you can get behind the wheel again.
What happens during PTSD largely depends on your attitude and motivation to improve your current circumstances. In the worst-case scenarios, you may experience unwanted memories, such as flashbacks, avoid things related to the trauma such as vehicles, or become a severely negative person. Unfortunately, when you’re in the rut of PTSD, it’s extremely difficult to jump out of it, given the full extent of the damages and that the disorder itself causes chronic negative mentalities.
How Will A Doctor Diagnose You?
Doctors and experienced specialists, such as psychiatrists, use a specific set of criteria. In fact, your standard doctor or the doctor helping you during your recovery may hesitate to make a PTSD diagnosis. It’s likely that they’ll send you to a specialist that understands how to detect the subtle signs of PTSD when you’re not directly exposed to the primary problem.
Doctors will want to see at least one recurring symptom. So the fear of vehicles isn’t enough, you need to have an emotional and physical response to vehicles, and the same response more than a handful of times. They’ll also want to see active avoidance. Are you doing everything you can to remote chat with your doctors to avoid getting into a vehicle to travel to the doctor?
Other elements of diagnosis may involve symptoms of reactivity, arousal, and mood changes. Because PTSD is slightly different depending on the person, the doctor will likely spend a good deal of time around you before making a diagnosis.
Talk to Experts About the Impact of PTSD After a Crash
If you’re having frightening thoughts, bad dreams, and flashbacks, you may feel unsafe driving, or getting to work. It may seem impossible to leave the house at all. To measure the impact of these symptoms of PTSD on your life, you should talk to an expert. They can help you set a dollar value to the amount of time that you missed from work, the opportunities and life experiences you lost because of the PTSD, and much more.
Find A Reliable Virginia Beach Car Accident Attorney
After receiving a PTSD diagnosis, it might seem like too much to manage a claim your physical recovery and manage your mental health. However, with a reliable Virginia Beach car accident law firm, you have a fighting chance. You have the chance to do battle for full compensation.
There may be many ways that PTSD has changed your life that doesn’t fit into normal claim parameters. However, when you call Virginia Injury Law of Virginia beach, you can speak with an experienced car accident attorney who can help ensure that every bit of pain and suffering is included in your demand. Our team fervently fights for full compensation.
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