Lawsuits can disrupt your life. Whether someone sues you or you take legal action against another party, a legal process drains your time, money, and mental resources.
Many people disregard the emotional and psychological cost of lawsuits. However, it’s important to be aware of the emotional toll of legal proceedings. If you’re facing a serious legal struggle, you should prepare to handle it on all levels: mentally, practically, and financially.
The Emotional and Psychological Cost of Lawsuits
The psychological impact of engaging in lawsuits can permeate every aspect of your life. Even if you initiate the lawsuit yourself and feel confident in your case, you can still face upheavals during your legal process. It can be even worse if you’re under a legal attack by someone who threatens to destroy your reputation or career.
Stress and Anxiety
A legal process can be a major stressor and anxiety-inducer. You may feel like you can never relax while you’re unsure how your case will end. Every legal communication, deposition, or hearing can be a fresh source of worry.
Strained Relationships
Few things destroy relationships quicker than a lawsuit. Whether it’s a divorce and custody battle or a work dispute, your relationship with your legal opponent will probably never recover. Moreover, people who know you both can take sides and make tensions run even higher.
Negative Impact on Mental Health
Lawsuit-induced anxiety can become chronic. You may also suffer from depression, insomnia, and PTSD if you experience severe, prolonged stress. If you don’t have a solid emotional support network, isolation and loneliness can make you feel even worse.
Financial Strain
Apart from understanding the mental health effects of lawsuits, it’s worth noting that legal processes cost a lot of money, both directly and indirectly. You may face steep attorney and legal fees and could miss many hours of work. That’s without mentioning the damages you may need to pay the other side if you lose your case.
Time Consumption
Communicating with your attorney, mediation or arbitration, and court hearings can all take a lot of time. Even if you have an efficient legal team, you may feel like handling your lawsuit is encroaching on your work, free hours, or family time.
Factors Contributing To Emotional and Psychological Costs
The emotional and psychological costs of lawsuits can be unpredictable. What starts as a minor legal dispute could suddenly escalate. Generally, the psychological toll of involvement in lawsuits grows proportionally to the suit’s duration, hostility, and publicity.
Prolonged Legal Processes
The longer a lawsuit lasts, the more your mental health will suffer. Some lawsuits can drag on for years, and it may feel like you’ll never disentangle yourself from legal complications.
Uncertainty and Stress
Even if you have a strong case or ironclad defenses against your opponent’s accusations, you never know how a lawsuit will end. The other side’s underhanded tactics can throw you off balance.
Social Stigma and Reputation Damage
People you value may suddenly shun you because they’re convinced of your guilt. A lawsuit could also harm your professional reputation, scare away your clients, or tank a business that took years to build.
What are the potential long-term effects of lawsuits on mental health?
While navigating the emotional strain of legal battles, it’s easy to overlook the day after the verdict. Even if the case concludes in your favor, you could still face years of trauma and depression after a turbulent lawsuit.
You may feel betrayed by people you trusted, and find it difficult to form healthy relationships. If the legal process ruined your career, starting from scratch in another field also takes an emotional toll.
You may even have to seek counseling or therapy to help you cope with the emotional cost of legal actions. Pay attention to symptoms like persistent anxiety, depression, or irregular sleep, and consider whether you need professional help.
Can mediation and alternative dispute resolution methods reduce emotional costs?
Collaborative dispute resolution methods, like mediation, can significantly reduce the stress and pain of a lawsuit. If both sides are willing to compromise, your case could end more quickly and on friendlier terms. Mediation can subdue legal scandals, help you protect your reputation, and give you more control over your case’s outcome.
Are there legal professionals who focus on minimizing emotional distress?
Every lawyer has a different approach. Some legal professionals are highly assertive and litigation-oriented, while others try to steer conflicts toward an amicable resolution through mediation. Choosing an attorney who values collaboration and compromise could make your legal process less stressful.
Mediators can also help reduce stress during legal proceedings. Unlike lawyers, who represent side A or side B, mediators are neutral legal professionals who help both sides bridge their differences.
Can you seek compensation for emotional and psychological distress?
Although it’s hard to put a price tag on mental suffering, you can still seek compensation for emotional distress. Emotional or psychological distress is an important part of many legal actions, including personal injury lawsuits, workplace discrimination or harassment, and assault cases.
Emotional distress can also be a factor in counterclaims. For example, if your employer sues you for misconduct but you believe they’re retaliating against you for reporting workplace harassment, you could countersue them for retaliation and claim pain and suffering damages.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, or IIED, refers to situations in which the at-fault party purposefully behaves in a way that is emotionally distressing to you. Some examples are verbal or sexual workplace harassment, racial slurs, or behavior that aims to make you feel threatened.
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (NIED)
In Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress, or NIED, the at-fault party doesn’t intend to cause emotional harm, however, the negligent actions of the responsible party still cause the victim emotional distress.
NIED is important in negligence-based cases, like car accidents, premises liability, and medical malpractice. It’s only possible to claim NIED when a physical injury also occurs, not as a standalone suit.
Personal Injury Claims
Emotional distress falls under the category of intangible damages in personal injury cases. Depending on the extent of your injuries, the strength of your case, and the skill of your lawyer, this element could significantly boost the worth of your claim.
Privacy Violations
Emotional distress can also be a major factor when you’re suing someone for invasion of privacy. Claims related to privacy violations can range from appropriating your name to invading your personal space, which could also include trespassing on your property. You can also take action against someone who discloses your private information, like your medical history or sexual orientation.
An Asset Protection Plan Can Help You Navigate Lawsuits With Less Stress
Financial concerns are a big part of the emotional and psychological cost of lawsuits. If someone sues you, you may lose much of your hard-earned property unless you have a solid asset protection plan.
Asset protection can help you feel more secure and confident when you know that, no matter what, a safe offshore trust or LLC holds your property. At Blake Harris Law, we can help you safeguard your assets, in some cases even if you’re already facing a lawsuit.
Contact us to schedule a consultation with an asset protection attorney.
