According to FindLaw.com, pain and suffering is defined as mental and physical anguish for which you can seek damages during a lawsuit or legal claim. While most pain and suffering claims are associated with ongoing physical pain and suffering, some of this does come down to your psychological trauma as well. Even though determining and proving emotional suffering can be difficult, it should be brought up to your personal injury lawyer after a slip-and-fall case. How do you know you have dealt with emotional anguish after an accident? Here are a few examples that can help you better understand if this form of pain and suffering is something you should bring up in your claim. 

Your experience during the incident makes it stressful for you to be in public places. 

If the incident that occurred was traumatizing, it can have lasting affects on how you live your life going forward after the accident. For example, if your slip and fall was caused as a result of a slippery substance on the floor and you fell down a flight of stairs, perhaps you struggle to be around stairs in public places. If your emotional struggles are that severe, this should be mentioned to your attorney. 

Your experience caused a major change in how you perform your normal daily activities. 

Your slip-and-fall injury has left you immobilized, so you now have to use a wheelchair or mobility device to get around. This is an example of emotional anguish that is directly relative to your sustained injuries, but nevertheless, it is something you will have to deal with going forward. It will change your normal daily life and could definitely be considered as a pain and suffering damage in your case. 

Your slip and fall left you facing major financial struggles. 

It is not at all uncommon for people to be left dealing with an inability to work after they've been injured because of a slip and fall. You can make lost wages a part of your claim, and they will be considered when determining your reward. However, if the accident left you in a dire financial situation because you missed so much work, you could be entitled to a pain and suffering claim because of it. Perhaps you faced foreclosure because you couldn't make mortgage payments, or you lost your vehicle, or you found it hard to provide for your family and had to have public assistance. All of this should be mentioned to your attorney.