Psychiatric Harm in Negligence

Psychiatric harm claims require you to first prove basic negligence occurred. The mental health condition must be severe, recognised by medical professionals, and long-term - not just temporary upset or stress.

The Reilly v Merseyside case established that only serious psychiatric conditions count. You'll need to identify the specific condition (like PTSD, severe depression) and explain why it meets the legal threshold.

There are three types of people who can claim: primary victims (directly involved and feared for their safety), rescuers (attended the scene to help), and secondary victims (witnessed harm to others). Each category has different rules you must satisfy.

Key Point: The "thin skull rule" doesn't apply to secondary victims - you must have reasonable mental fortitude, meaning the average person would have suffered similar harm.

Secondary victims face the toughest test. The Alcock criteria requires: close emotional ties to the injured person, being physically and temporally close to the accident, witnessing it through your own senses (not TV/radio), and suffering from sudden shock rather than gradual realisation.