If you’ve been involved in a severe car crash, you may be dealing with lingering physical issues that could include broken bones and spinal cord injuries which are easy to see. However, mental scars are harder to identify. PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, can affect anyone who has been injured in a car accident.
The American Academy of Family Physicians says that the most common symptoms of PTSD include confusion, fear and changes in mood. And, the more severe that the crash was the greater chance that you could have lingering emotional issues from the car crash.
If you’ve had trauma from other events in your life that along with the crash could increase your chances of developing PTSD. Even fairly minor crashes can cause mental anguish – and there there is no answer on how an accident is going to affect someone and possibly cause PTSD.
Emotional complexities
After an accident, you could become hesitant to ride in a car for fear of another accident. Memories of the accident could linger in your head and those memories could cause you to avoid getting into a car even once you’ve physically recovered,
Thinking about an issue over and over is a common sign of PTSD. These can put a strain on your life and your daily routine, especially if it is left untreated. If you have a family history of psychological issues, you could have an increased risk of developing PTSD or if you were severely stressed during the time of the accident that could also trigger PTSD.
You may think that feelings of fear or confusion will naturally fade away. However, with PTSD, emotions like this could actually increase and become more of a strain. Trauma from a severe car accident is serious, if you are struggling with these types of issues after a car accident you should seek help.