When you’re injured because of someone else’s negligence, economic damages like medical bills and lost wages often have the most immediate impact. However, pain and suffering—the physical and emotional trauma you experience—can have an equally devastating effect on your life. When pursuing compensation after a personal injury, your pain and suffering damages will make up a substantial portion of your final award.
A Knoxville personal injury attorney can help ensure that both your economic and non-economic damages are thoroughly documented and aggressively pursued.
Common Types of Pain and Suffering Damages
There are two main categories of pain and suffering: physical and emotional. Physical pain and suffering encompass the actual bodily discomfort and limitations you experience following an injury. The intensity and duration of this pain can vary, potentially lasting weeks, months, or even becoming a permanent condition.
These damages may include:
- Chronic back or neck pain
- Headaches and migraines
- Nerve damage
- Joint pain
- Mobility limitations
- Paralysis or partial paralysis
- Complications from organ damage
- Muscle strains and sprains
On the other hand, emotional pain and suffering addresses the psychological impact of your injury. The trauma of a serious accident can be equally devastating and long-lasting as physical pain. Emotional pain and suffering damages may include:
- Anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Depression
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Sleep disturbances and insomnia
- Fear and phobias related to the accident
- Diminished quality of life
- Loss of enjoyment in activities
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
Your settlement may also include compensation for loss of consortium, or the negative impact your injuries have on your relationship with your spouse or family members. This can include the loss of companionship, affection, comfort, and sexual relations.
Ways to Calculate Pain and Suffering Damages
Unlike medical expenses or property repairs, pain and suffering cannot be quantified with receipts or bills. Instead, insurance companies and courts use a variety of methods to calculate this form of compensation. Two of the most common are the multiplier method and the per diem method.
The multiplier method applies a number (typically between 1.5 and 5) to your economic damages based on the severity of your injuries. More severe, permanent injuries have higher multipliers. For example, if you have $20,000 in medical expenses and lost wages, your pain and suffering might be calculated at $60,000 using a multiplier of 3.
The per diem method assigns a daily dollar amount to your pain and suffering, then multiplies it by the number of days you experience that suffering. For instance, if $150 represents your daily pain, and you suffer for 200 days, your pain and suffering compensation would equal $30,000.
How to Prove Pain and Suffering in a Lawsuit
To prove pain and suffering, you will need comprehensive documentation that substantiates both your physical injuries and emotional distress. Valuable pieces of evidence may include:
- Medical records and treatment history
- Personal pain journals documenting daily limitations
- Before/after photos showing injury progression
- Expert testimony from healthcare providers
- Witness statements from family and friends
Recover the Compensation You Deserve with The Lawyers of Brown & Roberto
When filing a personal injury claim, your settlement should go beyond medical bills to acknowledge the real human cost of your injury. The Lawyers of Brown & Roberto have secured substantial pain and suffering damages for injured people across Tennessee. Our attorneys will document and present compelling evidence of how your injury has truly impacted your life.
For compassionate representation, contact us at (865) 691-2777 and schedule a free consultation with a Tennessee personal injury lawyer.