Claims for damages for nervous shock are among the most difficult personal injury cases to assess. Where the plaintiff is not physically injured and does not come into contact with the defendant, the psychiatric injury alleged is an extra step removed from the negligence of the defendant. As a result, difficult questions of proximity and duty of care arise. Further, the difficulty in proving or disproving cases of psychiatric injury, makes it often difficult to determine when liability will be imposed: Devji v. Burnaby (District), 1999 BCCA 599, 70 B.C.L.R. (3d) 42.
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