One thing that is important after a car accident is to gather any evidence and accounts of that wreck that you can. This is where a dashcam can be so important, for instance, or why you want to talk to witnesses who saw the wreck. It can also be helpful simply to have the police report.
This is important for numerous reasons, from seeking financial compensation to filing an insurance claim, but one additional issue is that you may have trouble remembering it. There are a few reasons why this could happen.
Hidden memories
For one thing, scientists have found that the brain sometimes hides memories, and it can suppress them if they are related to a traumatic event. They may come back later, which can be traumatic for the person remembering them, or they may be gone for good.
Similarly, people sometimes forget events that occur because their fight-or-flight syndrome kicks in. The brain is not as focused on making memories as it is on simply getting you through the event. This is an evolutionary response that can help you, but it may make it harder to recall what happened later.
You could have a traumatic brain injury
Another issue is simply that you could have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the crash. Memory issues are one of the most common symptoms of a TBI. They may be short-term or long-term. It all depends on the part of the brain that was injured and the severity of that injury.
If you have been in a serious crash, make sure you know about your right to seek financial compensation from the driver who caused it.
