The Psychological Impact on Families After a Child’s Traumatic Injury

Familiarizing yourself with the psychological impacts a child’s traumatic injury can have on their family may help you feel more comfortable with your own thoughts and feelings during an undeniably difficult time. In some instances, you may even be eligible to receive compensation for these psychological consequences. This might be possible if your child’s injury resulted from the negligence of another party.

Seeking Compensation for a Child’s Traumatic Injury

The purpose of this blog is to address the way a child’s traumatic injury may psychologically affect their loved ones. That said, it’s important to first address how a family may go about seeking compensation for their child if they sustained injuries due to the actions or negligence of another party.

Pursuing compensation when a negligent party causes a child’s injuries usually involves pursuing a claim with the negligent party’s insurance company. Filing a lawsuit is also an option. A family may have to file a lawsuit to seek compensation on behalf of their child if a negligent party doesn’t have insurance or their insurer won’t offer a fair settlement.

(Note: There are some types of cases, like product liability cases in Massachusetts, where proving negligence may not be necessary to show a child deserves compensation, such as for breach of warranty claims. A lawyer can help you better understand the claims process as it applies to your case.)

Potential Psychological Impacts on a Family After a Child’s Traumatic Injury

Many different factors can influence how a child’s traumatic injury impacts their family psychologically. The following is merely a brief list of common examples.

What’s most important is seeking the care you need. If you have any reason to suspect that your child’s traumatic injuries have caused you to experience psychological difficulties, speak with a doctor about getting treatment.

That said, potential ways a child’s traumatic injury can affect the mental and emotional health of close loved ones (particularly parents and caregivers) include:

• Their own trauma: It’s worth noting that the accident or incident which caused a child’s injuries may have been one in which their loved ones were involved. Thus, even if their loved ones escaped without serious injuries, they may still struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of a traumatic life experience. Seeking treatment isn’t just key to overcoming these struggles—it may be key to documenting those struggles as well. You may need this type of documentation if you plan to seek compensation later.
• Loss of enjoyment of life: Traumatic injuries can deprive someone of their enjoyment of life in many ways. For example, such injuries can cause pain and other difficulties that render enjoying life more difficult than it once was. They can also interfere with someone’s ability to participate in activities they once found enjoyable. Similarly, the loved ones of a child who’s sustained traumatic injuries may now be unable to participate in activities they once enjoyed with their child. Additionally, the needs of a child who’s sustained traumatic injuries may place a significant burden on parents, preventing them from engaging in other previously enjoyable activities.
• Stress: Caring for a child recovering from traumatic injuries is often quite costly. The stress of trying to stay on top of medical bills can be a major source of psychological difficulties for loved ones. This is one of many reasons it’s important to seek compensation for medical bills and other such losses after an accident someone else caused.

Again, those are just examples. If you’re the close loved one of a child who has been seriously injured, while caring for them is essential, it’s also important to address your own needs. You’ll be better able to help your child if you also remember to help yourself.

Speak With a Personal Injury Lawyer

Although rare, cases in which loved ones receive compensation for the psychological impacts of a child’s injuries could occur. Regardless, seeking compensation for a child’s injuries can help address many of the struggles that may be causing psychological difficulties in the first place, such as costly medical bills.

Discuss the matter with a legal professional for more information about your options. At Swartz & Swartz, P.C., a Boston personal injury and child injury lawyer would be happy to answer questions about your case. We’ll also offer the representation you and your child deserve if you decide to enlist our help. Learn more by contacting us online today or calling us at (617) 742-1900.

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If you or someone you know, needs help from a lawyer, contact the law offices of Swartz & Swartz, use our live chat, or send us a message using the form below and we’ll get in touch to assess your case and how we can help.