Listing of Non-Economic Injury Symptoms

[David A. Szwak]

List of non economic (ie., emotional distress) symptoms:

Emotional Injury and "Aggravation" Damages

Under one or more claims in your case you may have the right to be compensated for "non economic" damages. These are sometimes thought of as emotional or aggravation damages but can actually be based upon a variety of circumstances.

You may have the right to be compensated for emotional damages but you have to tell the jury about it or you cannot be compensated for it. Here are just some examples of the types of circumstances that you may have experienced and for which you may be able to be compensated.

Aggravated existing illness
Anxiety
Appetite loss
Bedridden
Chest pain
Concentration loss
Crying
Dizziness
Fear
Headaches
Humiliation or embarrassment
Hypertension
Hysteria
Illness
Irritability
Job performance affected
Job loss
Medical expenses
Muscle spasms
Nausea
Nightmares
Privacy loss
Relationships affected
Reputation affected
Loss of s* desire
Shortness of breath
Sleep loss
Stomach pain
Weight gain
Weight loss

You normally cannot be compensated for these traumatic experiences unless there is some "evidence" of the injury, such as you talking about it and explaining it to the jury, other persons telling what changes they have seen in your conduct and demeanor, etc.

These experiences must also caused by what happened in your case too. In other words, you must genuinely believe (and be able to explain) that your emotional or physical symptoms are the direct result of what happened to you in relation to your troubles over your vehicle.

Friends, family, co-workers, and other persons may have witnessed you going through some of the symptoms described above. If so, they can help explain what they saw or heard, and that can help a jury to understand how serious (and real) all of this has been for you.

The question becomes, how did your reactions manifest themselves in your daily life? If you were not "bothered" by what happened in your case, then you do not have the right to receive any compensation for emotional damages. If it did, then you do. But a jury has to know that this is real and not "made up." As a practical matter, that means they have to hear about it from you and your witnesses.