Psychological Injury and Law

Psychological injury refers to psychological or psychiatric conditions associated with an event at claim. It may lead to a lawsuit in tort action or other legal-related claims, for example, in Worker Compensation, Veterans Affairs (VA), and Social Security Administration (SSA) cases. Typically, the events are negligent actions, such as a motor vehicle collision. Gerald Young and colleagues, as well as Andrew Kane and Joel Dvoskin, have provided useful background on the field.

Legally, psychological injury is considered a mental harm, suffering, damage, impairment, disability, or dysfunction, perhaps as an exacerbation of a preexisting condition. The negligence could be the direct result of some action or of a failure to act. The psychological injury, disability, or dysfunction must reach a degree of disturbance that interferes with the ...

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