PTSD in Nursing Homes

Living with PTSD is a challenge for anyone, especially elderly people who might have other cognitive impairments. Luckily, most people will not have to suffer from PTSD. But some people that suffer from emotional or physical abuse, including that from nursing home staff, can develop PTSD even late in their life.

If your loved one is suffering from PTSD caused by emotional or physical abuse from nursing home staff, you need the help of a highly skilled and professional nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer in Memphis. At Gatti, Keltner, Bienvenu, & Montesi (GKBM), we have almost 50 years of experience representing people who have been abused by nursing homes. To get justice, contact GKBM today for a free consultation and case review.

What PTSD Entails

PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is a mental disorder that causes severe anxiety. PTSD is caused by either experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event, such as nursing home abuse. Most people who suffer from PTSD might temporarily have some difficulty coping with the stress of the event, but often they can improve over time with therapy.

However, sometimes, the symptoms do not improve easily, which usually means that PTSD has developed. Especially in older people, PTSD can be highly difficult to cope with because they have simply not had the years to learn to cope with the symptoms. It can also be harder to deal with these symptoms for older people because they might have other cognitive issues that make it more difficult.

Causes of PTSD in Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect Cases

PTSD is caused by a traumatic event. Any number of events can count as traumatic, but in nursing home abuse or neglect cases specifically, there are some specific types of abuse that can cause PTSD. Some examples of these types of abuse are:

• Being berated or verbally accosted by nursing home staff
• Being beaten or physically hurt by nursing home staff
• Being beaten or physically hurt by patients as a result of the nursing home staff’s neglect
• Being sexually assaulted or raped by a patient as a result of the nursing home staff’s neglect
• Having food, drink, or medicine withheld by nursing home staff
• Being isolated for long periods of time by the nursing home staff

If your loved one has suffered from any of these types of abuse, you can recover money damages for the PTSD that they suffer from. If this is the case for your loved one, you need the help of a highly-skilled, professional, and experienced nursing home abuse or neglect lawyer. Get the justice that you deserve by contacting GKBM today for a free consultation and case review.

Symptoms of PTSD

Symptoms of PTSD can be life-altering and make the victim suffer completely in silence. Worse, if the person that suffers from PTSD does not know much about emotional health, they might be suffering, and have no idea what is wrong with them, because they will be physically perfectly fine. For these people, it can be difficult for them to tell you what is wrong with them.

This is why you should be vigilant in watching for symptoms of PTSD. While most of the symptoms of PTSD are only felt or noticed by the person suffering from them, there are other symptoms that you can be on the lookout for to know if your family member has PTSD. These symptoms include:

• Lack of sleep caused by insomnia or night terrors
• Avoiding people or places that they normally speak to or frequent
• Having a negative mood that is uncharacteristic of them
• Having difficulty remembering things or details
• Lacking interest in activities that they recently enjoyed
• Always being on guard
• Being easily scared
• Talking about suicide or being flippant about death

If you notice that your loved one is suffering from any of these symptoms, you should immediately contact a mental health professional that does not work at the nursing home to analyze them. If that mental health professional believes that they are suffering from PTSD, then your next call should be to a nursing home abuse or neglect lawyer.

How You Can Recover Damages for PTSD Suffered Due to Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect

If your loved one begins suffering from PTSD after staying in a nursing home and they did not suffer from PTSD before, chances are, something happened to them in the nursing home. People do not develop PTSD for no reason. Something traumatic needs to happen to them. Even if your loved one is not able to tell you what happened to them, you should do some digging.

You can do this by speaking to various nursing home staff, other residents, or visitors of those residents who are frequently at the nursing home. While some nursing home staff might not tell you about any wrongdoing of their co-workers, other staff members might tell you information that can help you, whether purposefully or by accident. Once you have a belief that something has happened to your loved one, you can go to a lawyer.

Once a lawsuit is filed, your lawyer will be able to utilize the legal process to gather more evidence that will help you prove your case. If you prevail, you may be able to recover damages to reimburse your loved one for their treatment costs, the costs of moving them to a new nursing home, and damages for their long-term suffering.

Contact Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect Attorney GKBM Today

If your loved one is suffering from PTSD after being abused or neglected in a nursing home, you need the assistance of a skilled and professional nursing home abuse or neglect attorney. At GKBM, we have almost 50 years of experience representing people who have suffered from abuse or neglect in nursing homes. We care greatly about our clients, and we want to help you.

If your loved one suffers from PTSD as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, they deserve justice. Contact GKBM today for a free consultation and case review.