Psychiatric Injury

• Define Psychiatric Injury:

  Severe long term mental injury that is more than just shock or grief.
• Primary Victims

  Someone who is directly affected by an incident.

  To claim Psychiatric Injury, C must prove D was negligent (do Negl. steps)
• Secondary Victims:

  1. To prove if someone is a secondary victims, we use the Alcock Criteria (Alcock):

  • C has close ties of love and affection with V.
  • C suffered mental injury at the scene of the accident or immediate aftermath.
  • C saw/heard accident/immediate aftermath.

  2. Secondary victims then need to prove:

  • There was accident/event where someone was negligent.
  • Some form of mental injury - medical evidence.
  • C passes Alcock Criteria.
  • Reasonable person would have suffered same injury.