How you define emotional distress may be different than how the law defines it. Typically, most cases defined as emotional distress have to have some kind of physical harm or the threat of potential physical harm. Suing for emotional stress can be a complicated process. It’s imperative that you do thorough research and hire an experienced and successful lawyer. This helps ensure that you are getting the treatment you deserve.

How do you know if you have a case for emotional distress? There are two types of emotional distress:

1) Negligent infliction of emotional distress occurs when the responsible party exhibited negligent actions that led to the distress.
2) Intentional infliction of emotional distress occurs when the responsible party demonstrated behavior that caused the distress.

Emotional distress cases must always be paired with physical harm of some kind.

1) While it is different from state to state, for someone to base a case solely on their emotional damage, they must be able to show how the emotional harm manifested itself in physical symptoms.
2) In a case of negligence you must prove you suffered physical harm that led to prolonged emotional disturbances.
3) Some states allow you to sue for emotional distress as a third party. For example, your child is physically harmed in some way and you, as a result of that physical harm, experienced prolonged emotional problems.

Be sure that you hire a lawyer that can help define what kind of case you have. A number of gray areas in emotional distress cases can throw the case out entirely. A well trained lawyer can assess the situation and help you gain a clearer picture of your circumstance. Go to the lawyer with a detailed account of the symptoms you’ve experienced. Be sure to note the details of how your life has been negatively impacted. For example, are you experiencing loss of sleep? Sudden panic attacks?

Source: Emotional Distress