Irish tort law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Irish tort law - Essay Example Define nervous shock Before we go to the analysis proper there is a need to define what is ‘nervous shock’? Cane, P. (1993) defines the term saying: â€Å"This term is often now objected to as having no obvious meaning, and terms such as ‘mental injury’ or ‘psychiatric damage’ are often put in its place. But such terms do not capture the full range of situations covered by the older term, and so we have decided to retain it. Nervous shock is injury caused by the impact on the mind, through the senses, of external events.† He explained the term as follows: This term is often now objected to as having no obvious meaning, and terms such as ‘mental injury’ or ‘psychiatric damage’ are often put in its place. But such terms do not capture the full range of situations covered by the older term, and so we have decided to retain it. Nervous shock is injury caused by the impact on the mind, through the senses, of external events. Injury caused by the impact on the mind of external events, which is recognized by law, is of three types physical injury — a pregnant woman may suffer a miscarriage or a person may suffer a heart attack or a stroke; psychological injury such as hysteria, neurosis, depression or any other recognized psychiatric illness; and psychosomatic effects of psychiatric illnesses, such as paralysis. What is the legal rule in the compensatability of the regarding nervous shock? Cane (1993) answered the above question by saying: It must be stressed at the outset that no difficulty arises about awarding damages to a person who suffers nervous shock or even mental distress short of nervous shock, where this follows from the infliction of physical injuries on the sufferer.