Can car crashes cause PTSD?

Car Accidents - August 20, 2025

Can car crashes cause PTSD? Many of them can be pretty traumatic, presenting a very real threat of extreme bodily harm or death, which can often cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Regardless of your degree of physical injury, the emotional distress brought on by a motor vehicle accident can be incredibly disruptive to your life.

Recovering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can require a significant amount of time and money. An experienced Chicago car accident lawyer with Horwitz, Horwitz, and Associates can help you recover compensation for your financial and emotional losses.

Car accidents often cause PTSD in those who experience or witness them

Car crashes commonly cause Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in those who experience them. In a meta-analysis exploring PTSD among road traffic accident survivors, researchers identified that nearly 26% of car accident victims across the globe, and 31% in North America.

PTSD is a response to a real or perceived threat of grave bodily harm or death to yourself or someone else. In most cases, this is due to an event you have personally experienced. However, it may also develop after learning of an unexpected event that hurt or killed someone, often referred to as secondary trauma. Both car accident survivors and witnesses may be eligible to pursue a personal injury case against the responsible party if they develop PTSD.

can car crashes cause ptsd

Diagnosing PTSD in car accident survivors

A mental health professional can diagnose PTSD after a car crash or other traumatic event by evaluating your symptoms and comparing them to the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). To meet the DSM-5 standard, you must have:

  • A qualifying stressor is directly experiencing a serious car accident, being in the “zone of danger” as a witness, or learning about the serious injury or death of a close family member in a crash.
  • Intrusion symptoms, including intrusive thoughts, nightmares, or flashbacks.
  • Avoidance symptoms include steering clear of trauma-related thoughts, feelings, people, or places.
  • Negative changes in mood or cognition, like loss of interest in activities, persistent negative beliefs, or feelings of detachment.
  • Alterations in arousal and reactivity, for example, irritability, hypervigilance, or trouble sleeping.

These symptoms must last for more than one month, cause significant disruption to your daily life, and cannot be better explained by another medical or mental health condition. For some, this could mean being unable to drive to work, going out of your way to avoid the crash site, or withdrawing from friends and family.

You have several treatment options for PTSD after a car accident

There are several identified forms of treatment for PTSD. Historically, mental health professionals used modalities from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, such as exposure therapy, as a way to systematically desensitize survivors to the negative experiences brought on by triggers or reminders of the incident.

In more recent years, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) has become a popular tool to help car accident survivors. This treatment allows the survivor to experience the memories of the accident in a safe and grounded environment. The use of bilateral brain stimulation allows you to reprocess the trauma in a less traumatic and emotional way.

The duration of treatment for PTSD can vary. Some may experience relief or resolution of symptoms after a few sessions of EMDR or CBT, while exposure therapy could require more sustained intervention to find more permanent relief.

Call Horwitz, Horwitz, & Associates for support in recovering the compensation you deserve

PTSD is common among car accident survivors. This psychiatric disorder can have a profound effect on your life in almost every way. You should not have to bear the financial burden of recovering from someone else’s negligence. The team at Horwitz, Horwitz, & Associates is dedicated to providing positive case results and the support you need.

You can contact us by phone at (800) 985-1819 or contact us online to schedule a free case consultation and discuss your options.