The Psychological Impact of Car Accidents on Children
Children are more vulnerable to serious bodily injuries in car accidents. While physical injuries usually become apparent immediately, the long-term psychological and emotional trauma of the accident and injury may easily get overlooked in children.
The estimated occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in injured children and adolescents ranges from 12 to 14% and may be diagnosed only several months after the accident. This makes it important to visit a mental health care expert following a car accident for a timely diagnosis.
An experienced auto accident attorney should be able to help you recover costs for the therapist and long-term rehab along with other medical expenses, lost wages, emotional anguish, and pain and suffering.
Your attorney can also help you recover the cost of the child’s car seat, which usually needs to be replaced after a younger child is in a car accident. Just be sure to keep your receipts to ensure that you can be reimbursed.
Symptoms of Psychological Trauma in Children
Most children don’t take more than a month to recover emotionally from a car accident. Pertaining to this, there are a few that may experience long-term consequences.
Common symptoms following a severe accident or another traumatic event include:
- Sleep disturbance and nightmares
- Reliving the incident in play or in their mind
- Bedwetting
- Resistance to getting into a car seat and other activities associated with the event
- Anxiety in general or during stressful situations
- Regression in verbal or emotional abilities
- Acting out or anger
- Fatigue
- Declining grades in school
- Self-harm
- Destructive behavior
- Denial mode that the event happened
- Hypervigilance
- Overcome with sadness and lack of positive emotions
This is not an exhaustive list and you should delay seeking a mental health provider if you notice these or similar symptoms in your child following the injury.
Therapy is Important to Full Recovery
For older children, talk therapy can be healing. You should find a therapist that specializes in creating a safe space for your child so that they become willing to talk about the accident. Therapy can be challenging for children that are not yet verbal.
Toddlers can find it difficult to express their feelings. Moreover, this doesn’t mean the child is not suffering. The emotional consequences of the incident can become a lifelong issue for your child. You may want to discuss your concerns with your child’s doctor and ask them for recommendations regarding a therapist.
Things to Look Out for in a Child Following a Car Accident
There are several things you need to keep an eye out for depending on the child’s age. As per the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, these are a few behavioral patterns children may resort to if they are suffering any psychological impact from a car accident.
- 5 and under: Reverting to thumb sucking, bedwetting, afraid of being alone, and feeling anxious in the dark among other behavioral patterns.
- Between 6 and 11: Sleep issues including nightmares, withdrawing, being disruptive at home and school, unable to focus, headaches, and bellyaches.
- Between 12 and 17: Nightmares and other sleep issues, slip in grades, behavior issues, rise in truancy, anxiety, depression, headaches, bellyaches, engaging in risk-taking, and issues with friends and family members.
What Does Your Child Need from You After a Car Accident?
It can be difficult to see your child suffering. It can get easy to lash out or become uncommunicative in your worry. Besides, it’s critical that you take the right steps to reassure your child and give them a safe space to share their feelings. You need to create an environment of support and comfort at home.
Children are prone to relive events internally. You should learn more about helping them move on from their trauma as efficiently as possible. These are a few things you can do to help your child:
- Showing the child that they are safe now.
- Letting the child speak freely about their feelings.
- Getting back to a normal routine.
- Being available.
- Showing more love and care.
- Taking care of your own emotions.
Be Vigilant About Following All Medical Advice
You need to be on the lookout for signs of PTSD. In many cases, these symptoms may not become apparent for months following the accident. You should take your child to a mental health provider as soon as you notice the early signs.
You should consult with a seasoned car accident attorney to file a car accident claim. They may be able to help you get compensation to cover your child’s therapy costs. This is someone who has been through the legal battlefields before and ended up unscathed because of their tenacity and diligence.
In most cases, the costs get covered under personal injury protection regardless of fault. You should still speak with an attorney to get the compensation you deserve. It’s prudent to get a leading car accident attorney involved in your claim early on to avoid having your compensation denied or reduced by the insurance company.
Talk to a Skilled and Knowledgeable Car Accident Attorney – Book Your Free Consultation Today
If you or someone you love was injured in a car accident due to the negligence or reckless driving of another, the compassionate and experienced attorneys at Fox Injury Law can help. Our lawyers are known to relentlessly pursue maximum compensation for clients and their families.
We explore every legal avenue to obtain compensation and will remain fully prepared to go to trial if the negotiations with the insurance company do not yield a satisfactory outcome. Call us today or reach us online to schedule a free consultation and case assessment.