Common Symptoms Following a Brain Injury:
- Headache, dizziness
- Light sensitivity
- Nausea
- Changes in sleep pattern
- Loss of consciousness
- Note: someone can incur a brain injury without losing consciousness. This is one reason people may overlook a head injury
- Changes in pupil dilation
- Slurred or delayed speech
- Less stable when standing or walking, tripping or falling more
- Confusion
The human brain is a complex and delicate system made up of billions of nerve cells controlling all functions in the body. So, it’s a pretty big deal if any part of the brain gets damaged.
Since the brain is complex (and fantastic), it localizes functions in different regions of the brain. That is part of the reason why brain injuries are complicated: because the severity of injury is largely determined by two factors: (1) how severe was the injury, and (2) which region of the brain did the injury occur.
Brain Injury Awareness Month: Why?
TBI’s look different, which is part of the reason people do not receive a diagnosis for a brain injury. Lacking a diagnosis leads to lacking treatment, and lacking treatment means unnecessary difficulties in the recovery process.
Brain injury survivors CAN and DO heal from brain injuries, and receiving treatment often makes a significant impact on recovering.
Brain Injury Awareness Month aims to increase the detection and diagnosis of TBI’s, along with increasing survivors’ access to treatment, and share resources for survivors (and their family members).
Many brain injuries still go undiagnosed, whether due to a person not seeking medical care, or medical providers failing to detect and diagnose brain injuries.
That creates layers of burdens: on the survivor, their family, relationships, and community. TBI’s change people. Several people I care about have experienced brain injuries, and the impact of a brain injury can be a lifelong change for some. While many survivors recover, healing takes time, patience, and support.
Brain Injuries & Mental Health
Brain injuries often impact mental and behavioral health. It is common for brain injury survivors to experience anxiety, depression, or other mental illnesses; changes in personality, changes in mood, decrease in energy levels, substance misuse, sleep impairment, or difficulty handling emotions, such as anger (Howlett, Nelson, & Stein, 2022).
Changes to life post head injury can be distressing and frustrating. Losing one’s sense of self, feeling out of control of one’s emotions, increase of migraines or headaches, difficulty maintaining skills or hobbies prior to the injury, are just some of the struggles which survivors experience.
As a mental healthcare provider in Alaska, I ask each new client if they have ever had a brain injury, jolt to the head, or concussion; and if they received any treatment. Many clients have had a brain injury, and many never received a diagnosis.
Brains heal, and many people do heal from a TBI without treatment, but that doesn’t mean it is easy.
Many people don’t know that TBI’s cause various symptoms in the brain and body. Nor do many people know what kind of treatment they need (which is VALID because there are multiple: ophthalmology, medication management, mental/behavioral health, primary care, nutritionist, case management, neurology, etc), or: people do go to an ER or health clinic but a doctor dismisses the injury and does not provide a diagnosis.
Worse, perhaps a person doesn’t have access to an ER or provider; as is the case with much of rural Alaska.(CDC, 2023)
An aside: one of the best supports I can imagine for a brain injury survivor is a great case manager. Case managers are some of the best people; they know EVERYTHING. As this post discusses brain injury awareness, case managers must be acknowledged and appreciated, because they hold it all together.
(Thank you, case managers!)
There are many reasons why TBI’s go undetected; none of those reasons include shaming or blaming survivors.
Having clinical and research experience with TBI’s; I enjoy providing psychotherapy to TBI survivors. When working with survivors, it is critical to pace psychotherapy appropriately.
The traditional pace of counseling may be too overwhelming for survivors; it often fluctuates and requires understanding around the fluidity of abilities during recovery.
In my practice, I like to collaborate with survivors so we can find an optimal time for therapy. Brain injury survivors tend to have several different weekly healthcare appointments. It can be a lot for a survivor to attend multiple appointments in one day, and instead may be better to schedule therapy on a day without any other appointments.
Prevention
Brain injuries are often preventable. Preventing serious illness, harm, or death promotes healthier lives, happier communities, to name a few.
According to the State of Alaska Epidemiology Health Report (2023), Alaska has the highest rates of TBI’s per population than any other state.
Racial disparities are evident: Alaska Native and American Indian peoples disproportionally make up TBI-related deaths, at a rate more than double that of white Alaska residents (State of Alaska Epidemiology).
Rural location and the well-known shortage of health professionals in the state are contributing factors for these disparities.
Prevention saves lives; and informing people where they may be at risk can encourage folks to change their behaviors and implement safety precautions. There are not many ways to frame it but:
Preventing a head injury is COOL, actually