3.8 Article

Is PTSD a Bodily Injury?

Journal

JOURNAL OF LAW AND MEDICINE
Volume 29, Issue 3, Pages 888-894

Publisher

THOMSON REUTERS AUSTRALIA LTD

Keywords

PTSD; bodily injury; psychiatric illness; physical injury; neurobiology; neurochemical; brain

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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a unique psychiatric disorder with known traumatic events as its cause. There is debate on whether PTSD can also be classified as a bodily injury. In legal proceedings, individuals seek compensation for trauma from responsible agencies.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is unique among psychiatric disorders in that the cause, a traumatic event (or events), is known. PTSD is often the subject of legal proceedings, with persons seeking compensation from the agency considered responsible for the trauma. While PTSD is clearly a psychiatric disorder, there is less agreement about whether PTSD can also be categorised as a bodily injury, as defined by the Montreal Convention 1999. This article describes Pel-Air Pty Ltd v Casey, a case involving physical and psychiatric injuries resulting from the forced landing of a plane. It was ruled that PTSD was not a bodily injury under the Convention. While psychiatric expert evidence demonstrated that PTSD causes neurochemical changes, it was ruled that neurochemical changes do not indicate a bodily injury. We describe evidence of neuroanatomical changes and neurochemical changes in PTSD, proposing that the structure of the brain in PTSD support the argument that PTSD is a bodily injury.

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