The
consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury are lifelong.
In the absence of a cure, there is hope.
An estimated 75%-90% of the 1.4 million traumatic brain injury-related deaths, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits that occur each year are concussions or mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI).
Many individuals who sustain an MTBI are not hospitalized or receive no medical care at all. An unknown proportion of those who are not hospitalized may experience long-term problems such as persistent headache, pain, fatigue, vision or hearing problems, memory problems, confusion, sleep disturbances, or mood changes. Symptoms of MTBI or concussion may appear mild, but can lead to significant, life-long impairment affecting an individual's ability to function physically, cognitively, and psychologically.
Physicians can play a key role in helping to prevent MTBI or concussion and improve a patient's health outcomes through early diagnosis, management, and appropriate referral.
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of a TBI may range from “mild,” i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to “severe,” i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury.
A blow
or jolt to the head can disrupt the normal function of the
brain. Doctors often call this type of brain injury a "concussion"
or "closed head injury". Doctors may describe these
injuries as "mild" because concussions are usually
not life threatening. Even so, the effects of a concussion
can be serious.
Before you consider hiring a lawyer, I would
strongly recommend that you learn as much about the lawyer
and the lawyer's law firm as possible. This is especially
true when the claim involves a TBI or Traumatic Brain Injury.
Your attorney should understand the
mechanism of brain injury and the options available to treat
and to prove the extent of the injury.
Living Life After Brain Injury
For some, the "Trauma" is seen in retrospect as a crucial turning point that led to lives more fulfilling, more giving and more utilizing of our talents than we could ever have dreamed of before the trauma. We strive to share the kinds of things that people all over the world are sharing through support groups, family get-togethers and midnight phone calls.
- Brain injury can be a catastrophic event which dramatically changes a person and their family. A host of emotional responses may result. Over time, people often find that they adjust to the changes created by the brain injury. Adjustment doesn't mean that people are happy about changes, rather, it means that they recognize that they cannot be changed, and rather than struggle toward the impossible, begin to set goals and make decisions based on the new self.
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The person who has sustained the brain injury often must develop a new sense of self, and the family must develop a new vision of who the person is. This is a gradual evolutionary process which can be different for each individual and family.
- For the person with a brain injury, learning what a brain injury is, identifying the changes the injury has caused, and ultimately, adjusting to the new limitations resulting from the brain injury can be a challenging and difficult, but often necessary process.
Family members often experience a similar process, and have the dual challenges of changing their vision of the person with a brain injury at the same time as the family is redefined and their role in it changes, too.
- Three general types of individuals and family intervention have been identified and may be helpful at different stages of recovery: Information and education; support, problem-solving, and restructuring, and formal therapy.
A
place where people who have a brain injury come to rebuild their
lives. The participants are called members, not patients, and
the focus is on their strengths, not their limitations.
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Copyright
2006 MicroSolutions,
Inc.