What Happens if You Get Into an Accident and You Have A Pre-Existing Mental Illness?

Mental illness is prevalent, and a very common, real and sometimes debilitating problem. But as bad as mental illness is, it can be made worse, when someone who suffers from mental illness has an accident.

Injuries Can Make Mental Illness Worse

Even people with absolutely no history of mental illness at all, may find themselves depressed, saddened, anxiety ridden or even with wild mood swings and changes to their personality. But as bad as those injuries can be, they are made worse when the victim already suffered from a pre-existing mental illness.

The inability to work, move, and participate in the activities we enjoy, much less, the trauma of living in daily pain, can make mental illness much, much worse.

A Pre-Existing Ailment?

Of course, if you file a claim after an accident, the negligent Defendant will say the expected: They didn’t cause your mental illness, you already had it before the accident.

In that way, cases where someone had a pre-existing mental illness made worse by an accident, have what is known as a pre-existing injury. While Defendants will try to pretend that you somehow can never recover damages if you have a pre-existing injury, that simply is not true. In fact, Florida law specifically allows a jury to decide how much of an injury or illness existed before the accident, and how much was made worse by the accident itself.

If such a distinction cannot be made, a jury can find that the entirety of your illness was caused by the accident.

That means that a victim often has to explain how the mental illness affected him or her before the accident, and how it has gotten worse since the accident. That can be done through medical record and testimony, but it’s important to note the importance of getting medical help (in this case, mental health or psychological services) after an accident, to document the worsening of your illness, or the difficulties you are having coping with your injuries because of your mental illness.

The Eggshell Plaintiff

Mental illness made worse by an accident, also is considered part of what is known as the eggshell doctrine.

The eggshell doctrine says that a Defendant takes a victim the way he finds (or injures) them. So, if the Defendant happened to injure someone with mental illness, making the damages, injuries, and recovery after an accident, that much worse; that doesn’t excuse the Defendant from having to compensate you. In other words, the law doesn’t “punish you,” just because your injuries in an accident are worse because you have a mental illness.

Discussing Your Condition

Many victims may be hesitant to discuss mental illness, especially in front of a jury, or to the other side’s insurance company. Your attorney can help discuss this with you and make you feel more at ease about it. While there is nothing to be ashamed of, a little hesitancy to discuss your personal mental illness struggles is perfectly normal.

Schedule a consultation today with our Tampa personal injury lawyers at Barbas, Nunez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian for help after your injury or accident if you have mental illness, and are struggling to recover from your injuries.

Sources:

fpamed.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/eggshell-plaintiff.pdf

rid.uscourts.gov/juryinstructions/jccv_negligence_eggshell_skull_doctrine