What are non-economic damages awarded for?

Non-economic damages are specifically designed to compensate an individual for intangible losses that do not have a direct monetary value associated with them. These can include pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and other personal injuries that affect a person’s quality of life. These damages recognize the impact that an injury may have on a person's emotional and psychological well-being, which cannot be easily quantified in dollars.

In contrast, the other options refer to economic damages, which are tangible and can easily be calculated. Medical expenses are direct costs associated with healthcare following an injury, property damage refers to the physical damage to or loss of property, and lost wages pertain to the income that the individual would have earned had they not been injured. All these types of damages can be assigned specific monetary values, making them fundamentally distinct from the non-economic losses that non-economic damages address.