Looking at legislative and judicial views of psychic trauma--fluctuating recognition and discrimination

To describe how Canadian courts and legislation have viewed psychic or emotional trauma in the past century and the principles that are used.

The author reviews major trends in legislation and judicial findings pertaining to emotional trauma and gives examples of the fluctuating and ambivalent recognition by the courts.

The courts have progressed from refusing to acknowledge emotional trauma, to accepting emotional trauma when accompanied by physical trauma, and finally acknowledging emotional trauma even in the absence of physical injury and the "indirect" emotional trauma suffered by the relatives of victims. However, from time to time, the courts or legislation may appear to deny the distress, dysfunction or the rights of a person who suffers significant emotional symptoms after an injury. This occurred recently in Ontario where injured persons in motor vehicle accidents who suffered emotional trauma were not allowed to sue for compensation from June 1990 to January 1994. Combined efforts by a coalition of mental health professionals with victims of trauma at least partially reversed the discriminatory laws.

Psychiatrists must continue to play a vital role in the education of the courts, politicians and the public about the realities of emotional trauma and mental illness and their long-term impact so that fair compensation can be assessed by the courts and discriminatory legislation reversed.