[themaidquit]

I feel the need to bring the pictures of what the car looked like after the crash so people can see what I've been through. I do this for perhaps two reasons; a.) to show people/doctors what happened so they will perhaps believe me and 2.) to help me heal.

How strange is this and does anyone else feel the need to do this, or is it justme?

[nightnurse30]

I took a picture of myself when i woke up in the hospital because my roommate said i didnt look good and obviously didnt have a mirror....but she gave me my phone. So i have a picture of me with 2 black eyes, fat lips, and a bruised up face that i show people when i talk about my accident. I feel like if i dont show them, they wont understand why i have been out of work this long and why the recovery takes so long. I think once our bruises go away (or the car has been fixed) peoples sympathies also go away. So its our validation that what happened to us was real and life changing.

[themaidquit]

I had guardian angels watching over me. The only part of my body that showed signs that I was in an accident was, from the knees down-extremely black and blue. I discovered that I sustained a concussion about a week later.

I carry the pictures of the car around for the same reason you carry the picture of your injuries, so people will see the car and know that I have some issues.

Thank you for your post-it made me feel better knowing I was not the only one that does this.

[winic1]

I bring the car pictures to doctors, it makes a big difference between saying "I was in a massive accident" and they nod, uh huh, and then pulling out the pictures and their eyes get big and their jaw tightens, and they go speechless for a moment, and then there is an immediate, huge difference in their demeanor and treatment.

"I was in a car accident" brings to mind a fender bender. Big deal, right? Wrong. The pictures show them the real story, we were smashed to hell and back and it's hard to believe any of us came out alive, let alone still able to talk and somewhat walk or pretty much do anything. No, I am not a wussy complainer, I am a friggin', if messed up, miracle.

A picture's worth a thousand words, indeed.

[Lagr]

No, I don't think it's strange at all. There have been many times I wished I had video of the person hitting me, just to show doctors that it wasn't some light bump. Hockey is a fast game and I was plowed into glass at speed. My previous neurologist seemed very dismissive of my symptoms and I feel like friends/family have a hard time understanding why I'm not feeling back to normal yet. Oh, if I only had some visual proof to show.

[Klaus]

Yeah, I would love to have something like that to show people. Just about everyone on this forum seems to have problems getting others to take their problems seriously so it makes perfect sense to use a picture in that way.

[Kenjhee]

Not even a little bit strange. People are visual. It really is true that one picture is worth a thousand words. Doctors are people (well, I've met a couple I would have doubts about ) too, and as such can exhibit a strong response to visual information.

As it happens, I tried to obtain pictures of the car crash I was in. I actually still know the person who drilled me into a tree 35 years ago. He responded the photos were long gone. This is a person who never throws anything away, and I wonder about the truthiness of that statement.

[tamisue]

I have pics of the car and me afterwards. The one that really brought it home to me was the pic of the inside headrest....in the back seat, covered in blood. Yeah, I was driving. And I said backseat headrest. Jeez. I was thrown out of my seat (and seatbelt) which tore the metal of the car where the seatbelt pulled so hard, and into the backseat.[/I]

[JulieRN]

How I wish I were able to present a video of my accident...telling people the side of my head was impaled by the corner of a metal overhead filing cabinet usually elicits a "wince", but no one (except me) will understand the force at which the impact occurred..

People ARE very visual...and I've said from the beginning...if I broke my arm, people would understand more..you can't "see" my injury...you can "hear" it after you converse with me for a bit, or you can just dismiss it as "being blonde"....yes, I've gotten THAT before...people can't help being ignorant...

I actually took a picture of the corner of the cabinet...and showed my Fiance' where it happened in my office...neither one of us can figure out how I did it...it truly was a freak accident....