Traumatic Brain Injury This week...
This week's diary topic is traumatic brain injury. Did you know that there are more people with traumatic brain injuries than with schizophrenia, panic disorder, or bipolar disorder? It's true. Traumatic brain injuries are a leading cause of cognitive impairment, and head injuries are one of the most common neurological problems.
Types of Brain Injuries
The two main types of traumatic brain injuries are penetrating injuries and closed head injuries. Penetrating injuries include things like gunshot wounds, and closed head injuries include, for example, getting hit with an object. Even mild injuries where there is no loss of consciousness can cause problems with memory, attention, and concentration for up to a year after the incident.
What causes traumatic brain injury?
Bicycle and car accidents, sports injuries and falls are a few major causes of brain injury. Sadly, however, infant and child abuse also account for high rates of serious head injury.
Problems
Traumatic brain injuries cause many, many problems. Cognitive changes are common and can include problems with memory, concentration, language, reasoning and abstraction. Some patients show symptoms of depression or mania, and delusions or hallucinations may also occur. Closed head injuries typically damage the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Damage to the frontal lobe can cause personality changes and impaired memory, concentration, reasoning and learning. Damage to the frontal cortex may cause apathy, slowness, and symptoms similar to the "negative" symptoms of schizophrenia.
Luckily...
Some good news: patients who show good coping resources before the brain trauma occurs show better prognoses than those who don't. Educational level and personality traits may also play a part in brain trauma prognosis. This means that if someone had attained a high educational level, kept their mind intellectually active, and been a "well-adjusted" person before the traumatic incident, they could have a better prognosis following the traumatic incident; for example, perhaps they wouldn't face many life-altering cognitive deficits.
In summary...
Brain damage is bad news. Take care of your head. Wear a helmet.