TY - JOUR PY - 2022// TI - Is PTSD a bodily injury? JO - Journal of law and medicine A1 - Condon, Jacqueline A1 - Stewart, Cameron A1 - Galletly, Cherrie SP - 888 EP - 894 VL - 29 IS - 3 N2 - 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.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1320-159X UR - http://dx.doi.org/ ID - ref1 ER -