Loss of Quality of Life: Your Right To Recovery after Serious Injury

If you were hurt in an accident caused by someone else’s carelessness, your health may be affected to the extent to which you can no longer enjoy the activities that once were a part of your everyday life.

The inability to participate in intellectual or physical activities, adventure-filled vacations, romantic celebrations, or even casual social gatherings with friends and family has the potential for you to experience severe depression and self-isolation. These examples are what is referred to as a loss of quality of life. Did you know you can possibly receive compensation for a personal injury that results in a loss of quality of life? Personal injury cases are complex, and having an experienced lawyer beside you to fight for a just settlement for you is a step in the right direction.

What Are Some of the Activities you Enjoy that may be Impacted by Your Injuries?

Honestly, it depends on the kind and severity of the injury you sustained. If your hand or arm was injured, that could make gripping a tennis racket or a hunting rifle impossible. It goes without saying that any severe injury to your extremities could make doing everything from sports to household chores difficult. Holding your children or grandchildren, playing with them at the park becomes much more painful or even impossible with a severe back injury. Severe vision or hearing loss, even brain injuries from a concussion, can change your ability to interact with friends and family. You may lose your independence. Driving yourself to the store, cooking meals for your spouse, going shopping at the local mall are activities that will be impacted by certain injuries. These are consequences not to be taken lightly, and you deserve compensation for losing the ability to live your life to the fullest.

How an Injury can Affect Your Quality of Life in NJ

When we talk about functionality, we highlight the more practical daily activities that can be difficult or impossible to do after an injury. Your ability to function as a result of an injury caused by someone else’s negligence requires careful consideration by the court to compensate for your loss of quality of life. Back and shoulder injuries can prevent you from raising your arms over your head which could make something as mundane as reaching for a juice glass in the kitchen or getting dressed in the morning painful. Nerve damage from a laceration or burns can weaken your grip, making it harder to drive (especially a manual transmission), mow the lawn, hold cooking or eating utensils, and do general housework. It never seems that important until you can’t do it anymore. If you have been injured by someone’s mistake, you deserve to be made whole again.

What Does Loss of Enjoyment Mean In a Personal Injury Case?

When you are in a car accident or another type of accident resulting in serious injury, you may experience emotional, intellectual, or psychological trauma. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may manifest itself as mood swings, night terrors, insomnia, depression, panic attacks when in a vehicle as a passenger or a driver, loss of or increased appetite due to stress. A head injury could make it difficult to read, write, or participate in logical games.

There are simple things that your injury may prevent you from doing. An injury from an accident can cause what is referred to as a simple loss of enjoyment, and this encompasses actions needed for everyday life such as general housework, leisure activities, and cooking. Also, conversing with family and friends and being able to use transportation, be in a car or some other form, contribute to loss of enjoyment. The key here is to eventually be unencumbered by pain or weakness and able to walk, stand, or even run.

Serious loss of enjoyment of the quality of life after a catastrophic injury includes the inability to perform normal daily functions such as bathing, feeding oneself, standing for brief periods of time, sitting up, getting in and out of bed, or other furniture, having trouble staying awake or experiencing constant vertigo. Serious traumatic brain injuries are known to cause those problems.

Seeking Recovery for Diminished Qualify of Life

100% recovery from severe injuries that you suffered during an accident is not always possible, but there are many steps you can take to get yourself on the road to recovery. The most important point is to seek medical attention immediately. What seems like a minor injury after an accident could quickly transform into something serious. Follow your doctor’s advice and take time off of work until they determine you have recovered enough to work again. See a physical therapist if necessary and do the mobility and stretching exercises assigned to you. This can result in pain reduction and less of a dependency on pain medication. Also, have a strong support system of friends and family who can help you when you need them. 

The Quantification of Quality of Life in a Lawsuit

Putting a number on your loss of quality of life is close to impossible. How much are your diminished physical and emotional states worth? There is no equation given by the state of New Jersey by which an exact amount can be calculated, so a plethora of factors such as disfigurement or scarring, the length of your treatment, the severity of your injury, and any financial losses you have experienced because of your injury are considered as well as physical discomfort, emotional trauma, loss of enjoyment and quality of life, and permanent disability.

Our Personal Injury Attorneys can Help You Seek Compensation for Loss of Quality of Life in Mercer County NJ

If your debilitating accident was caused by someone else’s neglect or carelessness, you have a right to receive compensation for the costs associated with your injuries. At Cohen & Riechelson, we have expert attorneys ready to guide you through the complex legal process of personal injury and loss of quality of life. We know that each case is unique and will listen to your concerns and answer all of your questions.

There is a statute of limitations of two years for personal injury cases, so it would behoove you to contact us as soon as possible. It would be tragic for you to lose possible monetary compensation for your injury and diminished enjoyment of your previous activities over a legal technicality.

You can reach us by calling our Hamilton office at (609) 528-2596 or online for your free and confidential consultation. We serve clients in Hamilton, Pennington, Hopewell, and towns in Mercer County and elsewhere in New Jersey. Remember, we work in a contingency which means if we don’t win, you owe don’t pay us anything. You have nothing to lose but time, so the sooner you contact us, the more quickly we can help you.