What Are Damages for Emotional Distress?

Posted on September 5, 2025 in Personal Injury

If someone else’s careless or wrongful acts leave you with injuries, you may suffer significant mental, psychological and emotional harm. In California, a personal injury claim can be filed against an at-fault party in pursuit of financial compensation for these “non-economic damages.” This is also known as a pain and suffering award. Seeking emotional distress damages can increase the value of your claim.

What Is Emotional Distress in a Personal Injury Case?

Emotional distress can refer to any type of psychological harm an individual suffers due to involvement in a traumatic accident or in connection with bodily injuries. Damages for emotional distress are financial compensation awarded for this loss in a personal injury claim in an effort to make the victim whole again.

Emotional distress damages may pay for the following:

• Emotional harm or impact
• Mental anguish
• Psychological trauma or suffering
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Depression or anxiety
• Grief or mourning
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Insomnia or nightmares
• Humiliation

Any adverse emotional outcome or diagnosable mental health condition from an accident in California can entitle a victim to emotional distress damages. These non-economic damages can be awarded to a plaintiff on top of economic damages for related financial losses, such as medical costs, psychological counseling or prescription medications.

How Are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated?

There is no assigned formula for calculating emotional distress damages in California. However, the courts often rely on common equations, such as the Multiplier Method. This takes the full amount of economic damages and multiplies it by a number between 1.5 and 5 based on the severity of the harm.

Several factors can impact the amount of compensation awarded:

• The nature of the victim’s physical catastrophic injuries
• The extent and duration of emotional suffering
• Any physical symptoms the distress has caused
• Required medical treatments
• The conduct of the defendant

Quantifying emotional distress is challenging, as it is subjective and varies from person to person. Only the victim suffering from emotional trauma truly understands how it feels and impacts daily life. These effects must be described in a compelling manner to a judge or jury to achieve a fair amount in pain and suffering damages.

How to Prove Emotional Distress

If you wish to pursue financial compensation for emotional distress, you or your legal expert handling personal injury claims must prove that this type of loss exists and is connected to the accident and the defendant’s actions. This can be difficult, as emotional distress is an invisible type of trauma. 

You can improve the odds of being awarded compensation for your emotional distress by taking the following steps:

1. Confide in someone about how you’re feeling, such as a family member or support group.
2. Seek professional mental health care from a qualified psychiatrist or therapist.
3. Keep copies of all of your health care records, treatments and prescriptions.
4. Write down a daily journal of how you feel and the emotions you are experiencing.

Hiring a qualified personal injury attorney can make it easier to seek the financial compensation you deserve for the emotional distress you suffered due to an accident or injury in California. A specialized personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles can collect evidence to prove your non-economic damages and demonstrate how your distress has impacted your life and well-being.