What Are the Symptoms of Brain Injury?

What is Brain Injury?

Brain injury is a deterioration of the cells inside the brain. There are two distinct types of brain injury that can cause the symptoms. These are Traumatic Brain Injury and Acquired Brain injury. The former is caused by an external force – such as concussion – which causes the brain to bruise against the wall of the cranium. The latter is more commonly associated with pressure on the brain. This could come in the form of a tumor or a stroke. Often, the two terms are used interchangeably.

But What Are the Symptoms?

Moderate and severe instances of TBI are easier to diagnose. Problematically, mild cases often go unnoticed as symptoms scale with the severity of injury. With ABI it is difficult to judge the severity of damage caused as a judgement is made post damage. With TBI, we are able to judge the severity using a time-scale of unconsciousness after an impact.

The Glasgow Coma Scale

                        GCS                                         PTA                                          LOC

Mild                13-15                                       less than one day                    0-30 mins

Moderate       9-12                                         1 to 7 days                              30 mins to 24 hours

Severe             3-8                                           more than 7days                    more than 24 hours

Where GCS = verbal rating after damage, PTA = how long post-trauma amnesia lasts, and LOC = period in which the victim is unconscious.

From here, let’s walk through the main symptoms we can look out for. There are two prominent behavioural symptoms that can manifest after a brain injury: emotional and memory.

Emotional Behaviour

Brain injury is associated with a number of emotional challenges such as depression, self-control, anger management. Victims can also find themselves struggling in social situations where they did not before, that is, they may have lower levels of self esteem and anxiety. These psychological manifestations can lead to isolation, a reduced ability to function in society, martial difficulties, and keeping his or her job.

Memory

The most common post-brain-trauma experience is a loss of memory, or at the very least, a reduced capacity for memory. As memory is intrinsically linked to attention, it can be difficult to diagnose the symptom as physicians need to be careful to distinguish between memory loss and poor attention. Almost all cases of brain trauma come with a reduced memory capacity compared to people who have not experienced brain trauma; and, although patients usually experience significant recovery during the initial recovery phase, there is often an element of permanent damage.

There is a myriad of ways of dealing with this patterned change of behaviour, but it is best to contact your physician to ensure a bespoke plan that will deal with your specific case. Brain injury recovery plans are not one-glove-fits-all. The brain is a complex organism, and no two people can be expected to experience the same difficulties. As it controls every aspect of human life, when it is damaged any part of a human life could be affected.

If you would like a plan on how to deal with a recent brain injury, please contact us as it is important you speak to your physician as soon as possible. Contact our switchboard on: (212) 241-6321