Handling Depression After A Car Accident

After a car accident, your friends, family, and loved ones will often ask how you are healing after the crash – they worry about your injuries, your lingering disabilities, and even the state of your damaged car or truck. However, few people think to ask if you are feeling depressed after a serious traffic accident.

Why does depression often appear after a car accident? There are a number of possible causes:

• Depression could be a symptom of a head injury or traumatic brain injury.
• Studies have linked depression with chronic back and neck pain as well as serious back injuries.
• Depression could be a symptom associated with post-traumatic stress disorder after a traffic accident.
• You could be feeling depressed due to your lowered quality of life after the accident or ongoing physical pain and mental anguish.
• You could feel depressed because of your inability to return to work or care for your family.
• You could feel depressed because of flashbacks from the accident, sleep disturbances, or insomnia.

While some car accident victims only feel brief bouts of depression, and while some injury victims say that their depression fades with time and counseling, others may feel deep, chronic depression associated with their vehicle accident and injury. If you are feeling symptoms of major depression after a car accident, contact your doctor immediately so that you may be diagnosed and treated for your condition.

What are some signs and symptoms of depression?

• Fatigue or “fogginess”
• Feelings of hopelessness or emptiness
• Not being interested in activities that were once important to you
• Difficulty concentrating
• Irritability and anger
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Changes in appetite
• Loss of sex drive
• Headaches
• Chronic aches and pains
• Thoughts of suicide