Under the traditional common law, damages for mental harms were only recoverable as part of torts like assault, battery, or false imprisonment. In many jurisdictions, this rule is known as the "impact rule" and it requires some physical injury before negligence liability may attach.Our leading personal injury lawyers explain the process of making a personal injury claim for a recognised psychiatric illness. Plaintiff might suffer a psychiatric illness as a result of the defendant's negligence. If psychiatric injury is the result of gradual appreciation of events rather than a sudden shock there'll be no liability. (c) The defendant causes the death, injury or imperilment of a person other than the plaintiff, and the plaintiff can establish sufficient proximity. Liability for psychiatric injury is dependent in part on the nature of the injuries suffered and the manner in which they were sustained. For assistance with your personal injury claim, contact the Kankakee personal injury lawyers of Spiros Law, P.C., at (815) 929-9292 today. 11 Handford P, "A New Chapter in the foresight saga: psychiatric damage in the House of Lords" (1996) 4 Tort Law Review 5. Vexed and tantalising topics in the modern law of tort" (Sir Thomas Bingham MR, Foreword to.