Canadian Lawyer

w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9 41 P ersonal injury lawyers, on the plaintiff and insurance-defence side, say they are increasingly dealing with claimants diagnosed with somatic symptom disorder, previously known as somatoform dis- order. The proliferation in diagnoses of this psychiatric condition and recognition by the courts in personal injury cases marks the increasing recognition of mental illness in society, though it remains difficult to win damages for what is a mysterious and hard-to-define condition. Somatic symptom disorder, or SSD, is a psychological condition in which an injured person, though physically healed, is still in pain, often chronic and experiencing physical weakness, stress, anxiety and depression. They have "excessive and disproportionate thoughts, feelings and behaviours" associ- ated with the symptoms, resulting in "significant disruption of functioning," according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), which is put out by the American Psychiatric Association. Regularly meeting with a doctor, psychotherapy and anti-depressant or anti- anxiety medication are the suggested treatments. Kiran Birdi is an associate at Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP in Calgary, working almost exclusively in personal injury on the insur- ance-defence side. Since she began practising eight years ago, she says she's seen an "astro- nomical" growth in the number of claimants who, after a minor injury, are suffering from SSD, often unable to work and fighting with their insurance company, years after the inci- dent. Birdi says she is currently working on 10 files where the claimant has the disorder. "You're thinking, 'really, why am I still dealing with this file? Six years after the fact?'" she says. In personal-injury law, SSD often arises when a person is injured and their injury becomes so central to their life that they become obsessed, experiencing real pain and psychological distress that is out of propor- tion to the seriousness of their injury when compared with others who have suffered comparable injuries. That can mean those with the illness can appear like malinger- ers or frauds building a claim by seeking a plethora of different treatments for pain after their injury has healed. "This is not somebody faking or com- mitting fraud," Birdi says. "They genuinely Courts are increasingly recognizing that psychological symptoms can last years after a body has healed By Aidan Macnab WHEN THE MIND FAILS TO HEAL P E R S O N A L I N J U R Y L E G A L R E P O R T ISABELLE CARDINAL

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