How a Severe Brain Injury Can Cause Mental and Emotional Issues

Brain injuries are among the most difficult accident-related injuries to endure because they’re so closely related to their sufferers’ emotional and psychological well-being. Such injuries are known as traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Concussions are a mild form of TBIs.TBIs, because they affect the brain, can also be extremely serious. Even a mild TBI can lead to significant mental and emotional upset, and a serious TBI can have tragic physical, mental, financial, and emotional consequences.

Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries are usually caused by blunt force to the head or by a shattered piece of bone (or another foreign object) that penetrates the brain tissue by the force of the accident. Serious TBIs are often classified as catastrophic injuries because they can preclude victims from ever returning to gainful employment. While every TBI is as unique as the person who suffers from it, there are several symptoms that are commonly associated with the onset of traumatic brain injuries:

The sudden onset of extreme fatigue, sleep disturbances, incoordination, confusion, and/or speech difficulties
Persistent headaches
Unconsciousness
Numbness and/or weakness
Nausea and/or vomiting
Sudden mood swings, changes in personality, and/or shifts in personality

TBIs are nothing if not unpredictable, but serious TBIs are closely tied to negative physical, psychological, emotional, and financial consequences.

If you’ve suffered a TBI that was caused by someone else’s negligence, whether in a traffic accident, a slip and fall, or any other kind of accident, you need experienced legal counsel. At Dolman Law Group in Clearwater, Florida, we understand how difficult these injuries are, and we’re committed to fighting for the compensation to which you are entitled. Our dedicated personal injury attorneys are here to help. Though money obviously can’t turn back time and return you to your pre-injury self, rightful compensation can enable you to better follow the path toward emotional and physical recovery.

Profound Loss

It’s difficult to overstate the profound loss associated with traumatic brain injuries. Because sufferers often experience changes in their thought processes and in the very way they handle and experience emotions, many victims describe the loss as a lost sense of self. TBI sufferers are forced to carry on with their lives in the absence of many of the emotional and psychological tools they once had. Further, the personality and mood changes can serve to distance the sufferer’s family members, loved ones, and friends—his or her very support system— just when they’re needed the most. The emotional component of TBIs is consistently one of the most devastating elements of an already tragic injury.

Career Loss

Traumatic brain injuries can affect such significant changes in their victims lives that many sufferers aren’t able to return to work in the same capacity that they worked pre-injury and some victims aren’t able to return to work at all. For most of us, our careers are so closely tied to our sense of belonging in the world and to our sense of worth within the world, that suffering a diminished career path or losing a career represents yet another significant emotional blow that is both further isolating and further injurious.

The emotional and psychological damages caused by a TBI are nearly incalculable. A serious TBI can leave its victim slogging through his or her former life with an altered sense of self and a diminished sense of belonging. The resulting mental anguish can be nearly insurmountable for those who suffer from it. Further, traumatic brain injuries are usually permanent – though the symptoms can evolve over time and victims can make headway with counseling and mental health care.

TBIs: The Costs

Traumatic brain injuries do a number on sufferers’ physical health, on their finances, and on their emotional well-being. There’s really no element of a victim’s life that doesn’t take a hit. While the expense associated with TBIs is difficult to adequately calculate, there are a series of medical costs that are commonly associated with these exceedingly serious and costly injuries:

Emergency transportation from the scene of the accident and emergency care
Surgery and aftercare
Appointments, treatment, care and follow-up care from doctors, specialists, and surgeons
Prescription medications
Adaptive physical devices
Home adaptations
Home health care
Physical therapy
Mental health care and treatment, including counseling
Ongoing care

The medical expenses associated with serious TBIs are immense, but there are other significant costs that can’t be ignored.

The Emotional Cost

The pain and suffering associated with traumatic brain injuries can’t be overstated. A serious TBI can permanently alter the trajectory of a victim’s life in terms of relationships, career, and sense of self in the world. The implications of this damage are astronomical, and they often lead to feelings of personal displacement, a sense of isolation that many victims can’t shake, and serious depression and anxiety. Because these injuries are so unpredictable, their victims are also faced with a very uncertain prognosis.

If Someone Else’s Negligence Has Caused You to Suffer a TBI, You Need a Skilled Clearwater Brain Injury Lawyer

The mental and emotional issues associated with traumatic brain injuries are so overwhelming that they’re difficult to comprehend. These injuries can leave sufferers in permanent exile from their former lives—with very little sense of connection or belonging to their former selves. Such effects are obviously devastating. Further, TBIs are extremely unpredictable and permanent injuries that can leave victims with very little hope of ever fully reconnecting with their former selves. Nevertheless, quality mental health care and psychological treatment can help TBI sufferers traverse the path toward recovery.

The dedicated legal team at Dolman Law Group in Clearwater, Florida, is committed to aggressively advocating for your just compensation – the compensation necessary for you to follow your own recovery journey. Your rights and your case matter. Our experienced personal injury attorneys have the skill, determination, and compassion to help guide your accident claim toward its most positive resolution. We’re here to help, so please contact or call us at 727-451-6900 for a free consultation today.

Dolman Law Group
800 North Belcher Road
Clearwater, FL 33765
(727) 451-6900