Law

Can I Sue Someone for Emotional Distress?

You can be abused both physically and emotionally. When it’s about physical torture, you can file a case against an individual.

But can you sue an abuser for tormenting you emotionally? That’s what I will let you here. Also, there will be extra essential information regarding filing a lawsuit against a perpetrator.

Suing for emotional anguish

Yes, you can bring a charge against a person for abusing you emotionally. Many of us still don’t know that you can take legal action against a person. Often, this issue is taken lightly or overlooked.

Since you are here, you must know that emotional pain is no way less unbearable than physical pain. That’s why – it needs to be taken as seriously as physical distress.

Note that it’s difficult to get justice for emotional distress because it is not easy to identify.

Furthermore, it doesn’t always have to be an individual. It can be a company or an organization. In addition, you can be distressed many ways. You will know more about these in the following sections.

However, you have learned that you can file a lawsuit for emotional anguish. Next, you need to know what is considered emotional distress to file a complaint and how to sue someone.

What is a lawsuit for mental torture?

Someone or some organization can make you can suffer from mental pain and suffering intentionally or negligibly. As a result, the victim can damnd justice for the suffering and pain.

Different types of emotional distress to seek justice for

There are certain types of emotional anguishes for that you can seek compensation. Let’s look at the 5 kinds of emotional distresses you can charge someone for.

  1. Anxiety and stress
  2. Sleeping disorder
  3. Depression
  4. Fear and phobias
  5. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Different types of mental anguish lawsuits

You can be distressed in many ways. It’s not always about an abusive partner or parent. Considering that, there are 9 different ways one can experience severe mental struggle. Let’s have a look at them.

  1. Getting bitten by a dog and other animals
  2. Going through a motor vehicle accident
  3. Victim of a medical malpractice
  4. Getting injured at someone’s unsafe property
  5. Victim of using dangerous, and defective products
  6. Dying from negligence and being mistreated
  7. Getting arrested without a valid warrant, case, or consent
  8. Unlawful imprisonment
  9. Emotional distress from sexual abuse

How to sue someone for emotional distress?

Before anything, you need to seek a competent lawyer. Because opening an investigation against someone for emotional anguish is hard.

If you do it all by yourself, there is a possibility you might be misdiagnosed. And, that will be a flimsy way to start a case. You don’t want that, do you?

So, when you file a claim with the help of a lawyer, you have some assurance for getting compensation or justice.

Have a look at the process below. From the details, you will have a brief idea about filing a case for emotional distress.

Assessing the situation by a lawyer

I already mentioned at the beginning, you should see a lawyer. The lawyer tries to inspect the prevailing circumstances. Also, a lawyer will know what should be the next step.

To do that, your lawyer will not only take note of the current circumstance. For instance, they will ask for your medical history, how an injury took place and some other critical factors.

This step also helps the lawyer understand your requirements and condition to include in the claim.

Identifying the current status of health

In the second step, one will be taken to an expert health service practitioner to know about your current condition of health.

And the medical professional might need to talk to you in several sessions to build a thorough understanding of the mental distress.

This process includes – how affected you are mentally by a certain issue, how long it would take you to recover from it, how the trauma impacts the quality of your life and livelihood.

Preparing the claim for filling

You can start building the case when all the information is ready to be included in the claim. Furthermore, solid evidence is essential to make a claim.

For that, you will need eye-witnesses. That includes- support from your medical practitioner, family member, and other pertinent parties.

This evidence is vital for showing what you are actually going through. Also, this step will allow the law enforcement to see what’s going on and how did it all happened.

In addition, this way, the court will learn about the severity of the issue you have been facing.

Providing the context of the agony

An expert lawyer would try to vividly draw the context so that everyone in the court can feel what a victim has gone through. This particular approach increases the chances of steering the case in your best.

Final note

Being mentally tormented by a person or organization is a widespread phenomenon. But justice getting delivered is not that common.

Because we actually don’t know what to do about the issue most of the time. Here, I have talked about all the details about suing someone for emotional distress. Now, you can take a step accordingly. 

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