Chirs Hammons | May 7, 2025 | Personal Injury
According to the National Safety Council, in 2022, motorcycles were just 3% of the vehicles on the road, yet made up 3.5% of traffic injuries and nearly 15% of traffic fatalities. These worrisome numbers signal not just physical injuries, property damage, and insurance claims, but also psychological distress.
Motorcycle accidents add an element of vulnerability that isn’t there for car crashes. Without seatbelts, airbags, or crumple zones, motorcyclists are more prone to physical and psychological injury. As a passenger on a motorcycle, the vulnerability can be even greater due to feeling out of control.
Pain and Suffering
In legal terms, grief translates to “pain and suffering.” This is how the law quantifies how an accident or injury has impacted your life. In general terms, grief encompasses:
- Emotional distress
- Disturbances in your normal activities (such as loss of appetite or overeating)
- Intrusive thoughts of the collision
- On-going sadness
- Hopelessness
If you don’t feel like your psychological state after a motorcycle crash fits into a specific “condition” or “disorder,” it may simply be that you are grieving. This is still a valid symptom to discuss with your attorney, particularly if your grief has lasted longer than a year.
Depression
Depression is common after any kind of motor vehicle collision. In fact, the National Library of Medicine reports that 10-20% of vehicle collision survivors develop depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result. A number of elements relating to a motorcycle accident can cause depression:
- Stress hormones released due to the crash
- The physical pain from your injuries
- Avoidant behavior, like not wanting to travel in a vehicle, leads to isolation
- If you witnessed the motorcycle driver die or get severely maimed
How can you tell the difference between grief and depression? Grief is fleeting and less disruptive, whereas depression endures for longer than two weeks and makes functioning difficult. You may continue to grieve for years after an accident, but if you grieve acutely for longer than two weeks, it could be clinical depression. People with depression often contemplate suicide, whereas grief is not associated with those thoughts. Depression can be a result of grief.
Insomnia
Having a hard time sleeping is also common after a catastrophic accident, like a motorcycle crash with injuries. Symptoms of insomnia include:
- Needing longer than half an hour to fall asleep on a regular basis
- Waking up before your alarm
- Waking up in the middle of the night
- Waking up tired and unrefreshed
Without good sleep night after night, secondary symptoms can crop up, such as:
- Irritability
- Mood swings
- Drowsiness at work, while driving, and throughout the day
- Brain fog
If you are experiencing insomnia after a motorcycle crash, let your injury lawyer know as soon as possible. Like any other medical condition, it should be documented, treated, and added to your case.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-traumatic stress occurs when something that used to feel safe is suddenly no longer safe, like riding on the back of a motorcycle. PTSD typically includes symptoms of grief, depression, and insomnia as well as:
- Staying away from anything that reminds you of the accident, even things as innocuous as colors or numbers
- Dissociating and feeling numb or detached in general
- Shying away from revisiting the accident in conversation
- Flashbacks
- Nightmares
- Intrusive thoughts
- Emotional outbursts
- Constantly being on edge or alert
- Exaggerated startle response
- Insomnia
Don’t discount these symptoms if you are experiencing them. The psychological impact of a motorcycle accident on a rider is a valid injury.
Contact Our Personal Injury Lawyers at Laird Hammons Laird Trial Lawyers for a Free Consultation
For more information, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer at Laird Hammons Laird Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free initial consultation today. Our law office is located in Oklahoma City.
We proudly serve Oklahoma County, OK and its surrounding areas:
Laird Hammons Laird Personal Injury Lawyers – OKC
1332 SW 89th St,
Oklahoma City, OK 73159
(405) 703-4567
