When someone makes an injury claim after an accident, one of the most important questions is whether the accident actually caused an injury.
Legally, there is an important difference between having symptoms and having a recognised injury. For example, simply feeling pain, dizziness, or distress is not always enough on its own to bring a legal claim. The law generally requires proof that those symptoms come from a diagnosed injury.
Similarly, people who experience grief, sadness or emotional distress after an event are usually not entitled to compensation unless they also develop a recognised psychological condition, such as a diagnosed psychiatric illness. However, symptoms are still very important. Looking closely at a person’s symptoms—what they are, what caused them, how long they may last, and whether they might improve—can be critical to the success of an injury claim.
Finding the Cause of Symptoms
One challenge in an injury claim is working out what is actually causing an injured person’s symptoms.
This can be particularly difficult in cases involving head or brain injuries, which often occur in road accidents. Because the brain controls many of our senses, brain injuries can cause a wide range of problems, including:
- blurred vision
- ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- loss of smell
- dizziness
- memory or concentration problems
Sometimes a person may also sustain physical injuries to their face, eyes, ears, or nose, such as from hitting a steering wheel or airbag. When that happens, doctors need to determine whether the symptom is caused by:
- damage to the brain, or
- damage to the specific sense organ (for example, the eye or ear).
This distinction is important because some conditions affecting the eyes, ears or nose can often be treated or corrected, while symptoms caused by a brain injury may last longer and be more difficult to improve with treatment.
When Symptoms Might Have Another Cause
Sometimes symptoms appear after an accident but are actually caused by something unrelated.
Doctors may carry out tests to rule out other medical explanations. For example, fatigue, weakness, numbness, or balance problems could also be caused by neurological conditions such as stroke or other disorders.
This is why people who report neurological symptoms after an accident are often referred to specialists. The goal is to confirm whether the symptoms are truly related to the accident or whether another medical condition might be responsible.
Brain Injuries and Mental Health Conditions
Another difficulty in claims is that some symptoms can be caused by either a brain injury, or a psychological injury, or both.
For example, symptoms such as:
- dizziness
- anxiety
- lack of motivation
- difficulty concentrating
can appear in both traumatic brain injuries and psychological conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder.
In fact, it is quite common for people who suffer a brain injury to also develop mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety after an accident.
Researchers have found that psychiatric conditions occur in a significant number of people after traumatic brain injuries, particularly during the first year following the injury. People who already had mental health difficulties before an accident may be more likely to develop these conditions afterwards.
In the past, some experts believed that people with brain injuries were less likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder because they might not remember the accident. This view is no longer widely accepted, although memory loss or long periods of unconsciousness may reduce the likelihood.
Why Identifying the Cause Matters
You might wonder why it matters exactly what is causing a symptom, as long as the symptom exists.
The reason is that identifying the cause helps doctors determine the prognosis—that is, how likely the condition is to improve, recover, or become permanent.
For example, loss of smell caused by damage to the nose may sometimes be treated surgically. However, if the loss of smell is caused by brain injury, recovery may be less certain.
In many mild brain injuries, symptoms can improve over time because the brain can partially reorganise and heal itself. Most improvement tends to happen within the first two years after the accident, although recovery can sometimes continue for longer.
When Pre-Existing Conditions Are Involved
Many people already have underlying health issues before an accident, particularly degenerative spinal conditions.
An accident may temporarily aggravate these conditions. However, doctors may later conclude that the accident-related aggravation has resolved and that any ongoing symptoms are mainly due to the original condition.
This can also affect psychological injuries. If someone develops emotional distress because of physical pain from the accident, that psychological condition may only be considered related to the accident while the physical injury remains accident-related.
Diagnoses Can Change Over Time
Medical knowledge evolves, and diagnostic labels can change.
Conditions that were once recognised diagnoses may later be replaced or reclassified as medical understanding improves. Because of this, it is important in injury claims to clearly identify which diagnosed injury is responsible for a person’s symptoms. In some cases, symptoms may actually be caused by a different medical condition than the one officially accepted in a claim. If that happens, particularly in workers’ compensation claims, those symptoms may not be compensable.
Why All of This Matters
In an injury claim, two key questions must be answered:
- Is the symptom caused by the accident?
- If so, for how long should compensation apply?
Sometimes a person may experience many symptoms, but when each symptom is carefully examined—what caused it, whether it will improve, and whether it is connected to the accident—it may become clear that some symptoms will not result in long-term loss.
For this reason, lawyers and doctors often analyse symptoms carefully and systematically. Understanding the source, duration, and likely outcome of each symptom helps determine what compensation may be available.
