A traumatic brain injury can change your life in many ways. Immediately following the injury, you might find yourself unable to complete to tasks that were once simple, unable to hold conversations with the people around you and generally, unable to live your life the way you did before the injury. More long-term and permanent effects can include memory loss, slowed or reduced cognitive functioning, and physical impairments. Adjusting your lifestyle and your family’s adjustment to living with you after your injury can be a long, complex process that might not always progress in a linear way. You might experience one or more of the long-term effects of a traumatic brain injury listed below.
Talk to your primary care physician as well as any specialists with whom you work about the effects you experience. Your doctors having a full understanding of your symptoms helps them to help you recover more efficiently.
Physical Effects
Long-term physical effects of a traumatic brain injury include the following:
- Blurred vision;
- Difficulty with balance;
- An altered or reduced sense of touch, hearing, smell, or taste;
- Difficulty with spatial understanding;
- Seizures;
- Fatigue;
- Chronic physical pain;
- Disturbed sleep;
- Paralysis; and
- Reduced motor skills.
Cognitive Effects
An individual suffering from a traumatic brain injury can experience a wide variety of long-term cognitive effects, such as the following:
- Impulsiveness;
- Paranoia;
- Difficulty paying attention to tasks;
- Slowed thinking, which leads to slowed speaking and actions;
- Difficulty with planning and coordination of time and events; and
- Difficulty making decisions because of a decreased ability to rationally examine all options.
Behavioral Effects
An individual suffering from a traumatic brain injury might also exhibit changed behavior, making it difficult for him or her to build new relationships or maintain the ones he or she held before being injured. Examples of behavioral changes that can accompany a traumatic brain injury include:
- Withdrawal from social situations;
- Aggression;
- Difficulty picking up on social cues;
- Inhibition;
- Depression;
- Mood swings;
- Becoming addicted to a substance or other type of comfort, such as a shopping addiction; and
- Socially inappropriate behavior, such as obscene language or an increased level of selfishness.
All of the effects discussed here can be addressed through medical intervention and therapy. Sometimes, the effects of a traumatic brain injury subside on their own with time and in other cases, they require professional intervention. Discuss your possible treatment options with your doctor.
Work with a Washington Brain Injury Attorney
Learning to live with a traumatic brain injury or other head injury can be exhausting for you and for your family. Do not compound this exhaustion with financial difficulty. To discuss the possibility of receiving compensation for your damages through a brain injury claim, speak with Stephen Hornbuckle, an experienced brain injury lawyer and partner at The Hornbuckle Firm. Our personal injury firm proudly serves clients throughout the Tacoma and Seattle, Washington.
Blog By:
The Hornbuckle Firm
Bellevue, Washington 98007
Phone: (425) 679-0742
