This article looks at some general aspects of picking up your life post-accident, focusing on the emotional trauma of car accidents.
A vehicle accident can be horrifying and it often feels like it's happening in slow motion, leaving you powerless to avoid the inevitable collision with a vehicle, obstruction, or worse- a person. Thoughts race through your head at the scene and people can feel completely disconnected and intensely involved simultaneously. And then suddenly, there's usually a hive of activity.
But that’s just the start for millions of people.
Car Accident PTSD Statistics
The empirical findings of J. Gayle Beck and Scott F. Coffey in their review of literature on PTSD among motor vehicle accident (MVA) survivors, included research from various papers that showed (in the different studies) the statistics of PTSD in MVA survivors :
MVA’s are among the leading cause of PTSD
PTSD was found in 25-33% at least 30 days after the MVA
The lifetime prevalence rate is 7.4%
MVA-related PTSD may affect 2.5 to 7 million Americans.
25% of the participants in total reported experiencing symptoms of a major depressive episode, but of those who met the criteria for PTSD 41% experienced these symptoms.
Compared with the general population, women are 1.4 times more likely and men are 5 times more likely to experience a substance use disorder, although a different study found that current drug or alcohol abuse disorder was no different between non-MVA people, survivors with PTSD, and those without PTSD.
Chronic pain could be the most defining characteristic of car accident PTSD:
The chronic pain of 69% of car accident survivors can be linked to their car accident.
Of PTSD sufferers, 50% experience pain such as chronic headaches.
In legal actions, car accident survivors with PTSD symptoms find that physical impairment, chronic pain, psychological distress, and poor pain coping strategies play the biggest role.
There is little evidence that litigation impacts symptoms and one study found no differences in symptoms reported between 96 individuals involved in MVA-related litigation when compared with 75 who had not filed claims.
More recent research confirms that:
PTSD is one of the most common psychological consequences in adult motor vehicle accident survivors.
The rate of MVA-PTSD was pegged across different papers between 6%-45%.
If left untreated, PTSD may result in significant outcomes that may become permanent.
69% of MVA survivors have chronic pain that could be linked to their MVA.
Because of the stigma, sufferers often don’t seek psychological assistance, leaving many PTSD victims with unsolved psychological problems.
A relatively common human experience, 51.2% of women and 60.7% of men experience trauma and 24.9% of women and 34.2% of men endure more than one traumatic event in their lives. The researchers recommend that assessment for MVA-related PTSD should include non-MVA potentially traumatic events to see where the symptoms arose- and find the best way to achieve positive outcomes.
The Psychological Trauma Of A Car Accident
The medical conditions caused by trauma after a car accident are:
TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)
According to experts, TBI is a brain injury caused by an outside force, caused by a forceful bump, jolt, or blow to the head or body, or from an object entering the brain, although not every blow or jolt to the head causes traumatic brain injury. As the name suggests, it is an injury specifically to the brain, caused by a specific physical knock, disrupting the normal functioning of the brain. The two types of injuries are:
Penetrating TBI (also called open TBI): Usually only damaging part of the brain, a penetrating TBI occurs when an object pierces the skull and enters the brain tissue. A bullet is an example. In a vehicle accident, this could be any object that pushes into the brain when the external forces at play in an accident collide with people.
Non-penetrating TBI (also called a closed head injury or blunt TBI): Happens when an external force is strong enough to move the brain within the skull.
Sometimes, the accident can cause both penetrating and non-penetrating TBI in the same person. Get medical help as soon as possible in all cases.
PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
While research differs, it does suggest that up to 45% of car accident survivors experience symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with the underlying cause being the traumatic event. Not limited to injured people or drivers of vehicles, anyone involved, including those who witnessed the accident, could later find themselves with PTSD symptoms. While flashbacks, anxiety, and fear are natural reactions, when symptoms are still there after 30 days, there is a possibility that PTSD may have manifested itself.
Comorbidity
Comorbidity is the simultaneous presence of two or more medical conditions in one person. In addition to PTSD, several other psychological problems appear after an MVA, most commonly mood disturbances, and 41% of those with PTSD after an MVA report symptoms consistent with a major depressive episode. Additional anxiety disorders can also be present, and these rates range from 7% to 31%, depending on gender and the type of disorder. Trauma arising from an MVA can result in psychological consequences separate from pre-existing issues.
Chronic pain
Chronic pain could be the single most defining characteristic of car accidents, with 69% of survivors experiencing it. These pain symptoms regularly remain after a month despite standard medical treatment and cause significant lifestyle limitations, impairment, or significant distress.
Adjustment disorder
When car crash victims suffer extreme stress and anxiety as they try to live their lives after the accident, injuries, treatment, and impairments can be challenging and could result in adjustment disorder.
Emotional trauma after a car accident
The mental distress of involvement in a car accident is an experience of most, if not all people in and around a car accident when it happens. The emotional trauma of a car accident can be as life-altering and debilitating as the physical injuries.
Survivor Guilt After A Car Accident
People often feel guilty that they survived an accident, that they are still alive and able to enjoy life while another, or others had their lives cut short. Survivor guilt manifests whether the person is responsible for an accident, contributed in some way, or had nothing to do with causing the accident and can simply be the thought that “It could have been me.”. Two stories shared about survivor guilt:
Natasha: After stopping at a red light, another vehicle careened into the back of her car. She suffered some injuries when she walked to the other car and then watched emergency services extract the driver from the crumpled wreck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Her subsequent emotional trauma was far worse than her physical injuries, with the crash replaying in her mind whenever she closed her eyes. Weekly therapy sessions helped her to work through the flashbacks and emotions, including the guilt of surviving which weighed heavily on her.
Timo: Instinctively reaching for his vibrating phone in his pocket, when he looked up from the momentary distraction a car ahead was turning and they collided. Fortunately, his family was unharmed, but in the aftermath of the accident the guilt was the hardest to deal with- he had endangered the lives of the people he loved most, even though the other driver only had minor injuries. He is now far more diligent about putting his phone away while driving.
Symptoms of survivor guilt include:
Feelings of hopelessness or helplessness.
Agitation and irritability.
Flashbacks to the event.
Difficulty sleeping
Dreams or nightmares about the accident
Decline in mood.
Intrusive thoughts.
Loss of interest in previously favorite activities.
Angry outbursts.
Mentally Healing From A Car Accident
Experts suggest that there are specific ways in which Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) can play an essential role in the treatment of PTSD after a motor vehicle collision when recovering from the mental trauma of an MVA. These include:
1. Supportive Psychotherapy
Creating a synergy, pain, and PTSD manifest in several ways. There is the mental anguish that follows the accident and- separately, the symptoms of PTSD such as anxiety, depression, and other indicators such as:
Re-experiencing symptom/s (Intrusive memories): Flashbacks and nightmares
Avoidance symptom/s: Attempts at putting the accident “Out Of sight, out of mind.”
Cognition and mood symptoms (Negative changes in mood and thinking): Social isolation and negative thoughts about yourself and everyone else.
Most of us have difficulty distinguishing between mental pain and PTSD symptoms which seem to conglomerate into one horrible way to live because both problems emerged from the same event. Therapy helps differentiate between the causes which is important because different problems respond to different interventions.
2. Addressing Anxiety during treatment sessions
In a cruel twist of fate, the very thing we do to get help- therapy, can be a trigger that we would prefer to avoid. Don’t let this be a barrier to healing. MVA-related PTSD involves confronting trauma triggers, but it may mean you get to the session in a heightened state of anxiety or agitation.
Mindful meditation- giving deliberate and direct focus to one thing, such as breathing, reduces acute distress and distraction. Opening your mind to the next part of the session is easier when you can direct attention to the therapy- whether it’s CBT or something else, and away from events of the past or future. It can also be used in other ways, including when driving a car.
Without this exercise, it’s often hard to work effectively. An intensely person thing, mindful meditation, quietening the mind, is better done alone and can get chaotic and potentially harmful in groups.
3. When a fatality results from the MVA
Survivor guilt can be even more overwhelming when there has been a fatality in a car accident and an extra layer of issues sometimes come out in therapy. Perceptions of responsibility and protracted feelings of guilt also manifest in their own ways.
The research indicates that people who are involved in a car accident that caused a fatality are at a higher risk of developing PTSD, even if that person wasn’t responsible for the accident- for example, they were only a passenger. Many focused primarily on the existential facets of the fatality as life and death issues come to the fore.
Several aspects of CBT, including an examination of probabilities and over-estimation errors are critical to healing before being ready for exposure practice outside treatment sessions. As hard as it is, it's recommended that you try to stay with the exposure exercise until anxiety has reduced by half.
Some people try to push the envelope in exposure in between treatment sessions and choose a practice item fairly high up on their hierarchy, thinking that if they just "tough it out", recovery will magically follow. Others get overwhelmed and a little pessimistic about the outcome of treatment, but it’s in your own interests to persevere. The rewards of healing far outweigh the efforts.
For me, some life-altering practices to heal from trauma include:
Forgiveness
Finding meaning in your life
Journeying into faith
Practicing gratitude and mindfulness
Laughing: even at little things like this short clip about laughter yoga:
When you’ve finished laughing, there are some slightly more serious things to think about.
Litigating Emotional Trauma From A Car Accident
As if dealing with physical and emotional injuries weren’t enough, there’s a whole host of things happening after a car accident. Luckily, they don’t all unfold immediately. Some- like getting medical help, police where necessary, and a towing company are rational decisions to be made when rational thinking is limited.
As days go by, healing becomes a priority amidst a mountain of paperwork, insurance issues, administration, and legal necessities. Attending to as much as you are able can be a good thing because it helps to focus on doing necessary stuff rather than ruminating but sometimes it can be daunting.
As professionals, lawyers are often out of financial reach but if the budget can extend to one, finding a good lawyer to guide you through the process does leave you time to get back to life’s routines and more importantly- healing. Claiming compensation for emotional trauma may also be appropriate, but each case is unique and a lawyer can advise on your particular set of circumstances. Finding a good lawyer who has a good understanding of injury claims AND PTSD is key as they are likely to have insight into what you are going through.
There is no such thing as average compensation as every case will win or lose on its own merits, and while court action is intended to restore you to where you were before an accident, this is close to impossible. By making attempts to re-engage with the world and rebuild a life that may have been devastated by the symptoms of car accident PTSD and other injuries it’s unfortunately often the case that this means building a new life. But it is an opportunity to create a beautiful new life from the ashes.
PTSD After A Car Wreck
If emotional trauma turns into PTSD, the car wreck becomes minor compared to the wreck your life may feel like. It's not a wreck. Look around and see how many blessings you have. These can be good people or small things like birds singing, almost as though they are singing a happy tune just for you.
After a car accident, PTSD symptoms usually go away between 1 week and 3 months but some symptoms may carry on for years, especially if they are ignored or go untreated. Toughing it out isn’t a viable alternative to treatment, but at the same time, give yourself time, kindness, care, and mostly love. And on days that you can’t: Just breathe.
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