Mental Distress and Nursing Home Abuse

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Mental Distress and Nursing Home Abuse

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

You may have heard stories on the news before about nursing home abuse and neglect and the common signs of it, which include but are not limited to malnutrition, bedsores, clogged breathing tubes, financial exploitation, and even death. However, not all abuse in nursing homes is physical, and some patients can develop mental health problems due to abuse or neglect. Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys are ready to help you in the event that one of your loved ones is a victim of such neglect—but what should you look for to know something is wrong?


Emotional distress can be a sign of neglect or abuse in a nursing home. This distress can be caused by plenty of factors, like if a patient hears bad news about his or her own health. A patient may also be lonely or be dealing with sadness from the loss of one of their friends or family members.

However, as any nursing home neglect lawyer could tell you, there are other causes of emotional distress that can be linked to nursing home abuse.

For example, if nursing home employees bully a patient, make fun of them, or otherwise verbally abuse a patient, that patient may face stress due to the abuse. Emotional distress may also be caused by indirect factors related to nursing home neglect. If a patient isn’t allowed the opportunity to exercise, meditate, go outdoors or socialize with other people, these things can lead to the patient feeling sad, restless, or depressed. In order to determine whether nursing home abuse or the patient’s demeanor is causing the distress, however, it’s helpful to discuss the matter with a nursing home abuse attorney.

If you are worried about what a loved one may be dealing with emotionally during their stay in a nursing home, it’s important to pursue the matter rather than ignore it. An Illinois nursing home abuse lawyer can help figure out what is going on in your loved one’s situation and how you should proceed.

 

Steve Malman

Malman Law’s founder Attorney Steven Malman has over 30 years of experience handling personal injury, nursing home, medical malpractice, truck accidents, car accidents, premises liability, construction, and workers’ compensation cases in Chicago, IL.

Years of experience: +30 years
Illinois Registration Status: Active and authorized to practice law—Last Registered Year: 2024

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