Emotional distress is one of the hardest injuries to prove in a legal sense. Unlike a broken arm or leg, there are no X-rays to analyze, or scars or contusions that can definitively prove your injuries.

Instead, emotional distress is psychological and not physiological in nature. And while the suffering can equal that of physical injuries, plaintiffs often have a hard time proving to a court they are entitled to compensation given the difficulty of proof.

For those people who have suffered injuries as a result of someone else’s negligence or intentional wrongdoing and want to include a claim for emotional distress in their personal injury lawsuit, here are five ways you may be able to prove your claim:

1. Intensity of distress. The more intense the mental anguish, the better chance you have of proving that your emotional distress was severe enough to deserve compensation. In some cases, however — particularly, cases alleging negligent (rather than intentional) infliction of emotional distress, courts will typically require some sort of physical injury as well.
2. Duration of distress Persistent and recurring pain that remains with you for a long period of time, like post traumatic stress, may also help prove severe emotional distress.
3. Related Bodily Harm. While it may be difficult to point out evidence of the emotional distress, you may more easily provide evidence of related bodily injury that you got from the emotional distress such as ulcers, headaches or high-blood pressure.
4. Underlying Cause. The more extreme the underlying cause of the emotional distress, the more likely a court will find emotional distress. For example, a survivor of shooting will be more likely to support a claim than being the victim of an ordinary rear-end car accident that resulted in minor physical injuries.
5. Doctor’s Note. A note by a doctor or psychologist that has treated you should be provided to support every claim of emotional distress.

You will typically need to incorporate several of these methods in proving your claim. For example, you may want to demonstrate both the intensity and duration of your distress and provide supporting medical documentation from your doctor for the psychological pain and any related physical injuries.

If you do plan on making an emotional distress injury claim, you need an experienced personal injury attorney advocating on your behalf. At The Law Office of Richard Kenny, our attorneys have over a century of combined experience trying dozens of types of personal injury lawsuits in New York. We have received over $100,000,000 in verdicts and settlements for our clients and do everything in our power to get you the compensation that you deserve. Call our office at 212-421-0300 today to receive a free consultation from one of our attorneys!