Damages are financial compensation that the law requires a company to pay when its product causes provable harm - including financial, physical, and emotional impacts.
Moreover, think of damages not just as a payout, but as a legal means to help address your child’s suffering and hold social media platforms accountable for the medical and emotional struggles they created.
Compensation available for social media-related harm
With the first trials officially starting in Los Angeles in February 2026, courts are generally considering the following types of compensation:
Economic damages
- Medical & psychiatric expenses: Coverage for all past and future costs related to the diagnosis and treatment of mental health impacts that your family has incurred because of the addiction. This may include:
- Therapy sessions
- Doctor visits
- Medications
- Institutional treatment: This covers the high costs of residential treatment facilities, psychiatric hospitalizations, and intensive outpatient programs (IOP).
- Lost wages and earning potential: This compensation can cover both the child’s future earning potential and income lost by the parents who had to take time off work.
- For the victim: Compensation for potentially lost future wages if a clinical diagnosis like severe anorexia or major depression has derailed your child’s education or career path.
- For parents: May receive compensation for time taken off work to care for their child.
- Death benefits: In the most tragic cases involving the loss of a child, families may be entitled to benefits to cover funeral expenses.
Non-economic damages
While economic damages pay back the literal money you spent on doctors and hospitals, non-economic damages address the profound impact social media addiction has on a young person’s life.
- Pain and suffering: Compensation for the mental trauma caused by disorders like anorexia or major Depression.
- Emotional distress: For the social isolation, loss of "normal" childhood experiences, and the breakdown of family relationships.
- Loss of quality of life: Compensation for the impact on your child’s quality of life, such as social withdrawal, academic and professional sabotage, and loss of hobbies and joys of life, may be considered.
Economic and non-economic compensation covers the full scope of the victim’s financial, medical, and emotional losses. A skilled attorney can help you document every aspect of your claim, from treatments to health effects, making sure nothing is overlooked.
How Atraxia Law can help you get the full compensation that your child deserves
A high-value claim depends on clinical proof. We don't focus solely on your child being addicted; we perform a rigorous audit of medical records to show the connection between the addictive design features of these social media apps and the specific medical diagnoses.
Once we verify the full extent of your damages, we refer the case to an experienced litigation attorney who will aim for the maximum settlement available.