An evaluation in a mental injury case requires the evaluator to come to know and to explain the claimant's life thoroughly.  
 

Correspondingly, a thorough psychological assessment must not only evaluate the claimant’s current psychological functioning and the events surrounding the alleged injury, but also gather a complete history with emphasis on the claimant’s prior life and functioning.  Prospective inquiry is also required to assess the effect of the injury on the claimant's wage earning capacity or the claimant’s continued ability to function as the "person he or she was" prior to the tortious event.