Index
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Sponsor
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Attorneys
at Law
LEADING BRAIN INJURY LAW
FIRM
RESULTS OF PROVEN TECHNIQUE,
DEDICATION AND HARD WORK
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Sponsor
Centers for
TBI Rehab
800-296-5462 |
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Phil Wakefield,
Lawyer
877-DUI-0808 |
Criminal Law
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 9/11/01
Even
mild brain Damage can result in
functional impairments, that can substantially interfere with the ability
to return to a normal lifestyle.
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They are known as functional impairments because they interfere with the
ability to perform basic functions such as walking and talking, thinking
and knowing remembering and understanding.
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For example, memory, mood and fatigue top the list of the many on-going
impairments that are caused by brain damage.
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Even a minor brain injury can have substantial, lifelong consequences.
Substantial
Lifelong Consequences.
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After brain injury, things that once were easy and familiar become strange
and difficult.
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Intensive mental effort is usually required to do things that required
little or no effort before brain injury.
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Work and school, personal and family life often suffer too.
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Typically, children become unmanageable, grades drop, personalities change
and they regress to a earlier developmental stage.
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In adults, deadlines are missed, jobs are lost, savings dwindle and nerves
fray.
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Behavior regresses and becomes upredictable, unreliable, frequently inappropriate,
and sometimes violent, role reversals are common.
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While only one family member may have sustained a brain injury the entire
family suffers from its massive intrusion.
Scope
of the Problem.
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Each year an estimated 5 million persons in the United States sustain head
injuries.
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Of that number, 2 million Americans sustain head injuries that result in
permanent impairments.
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Many such injuries do not even require a stay in the hospital, yet they
result in impairments so profound that lives are forever changed.
Recognizing
the Problem.
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Often, the effects of minor to moderate brain injuries are not immediately
apparent.
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Many months may go by before brain injury changes become apparent.
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Even then, special training and expertise are required to properly diagnose
such impairments.
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Such fields of specialization are known as Neuropsychology and Neuropsychiatry.
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Recognizing such problems is made even more difficult by perceptual and
expressive impairments caused by brain injury.
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Brain injury causes diminished self-awareness and interferes with the ability
to recognize changes in the self.
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It also causes mental confusion and a sense of uncertainty about experiences.
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Difficulties finding familiar words to communicate thoughts and desires
hinders communication and fuels frustration.
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Many individuals do not report such symptoms out of fear of being thought
of as mentally unsound.
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Others are shamed by such symptoms in themselves.
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Additionally, the very nature of brain injury interferes with the ability
to recognize the problem.
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Frequently, brain injury causes memory impairments and expressive disorders.
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In real terms, this means that even when the memory survives the words
might become elusive.
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Such impairments can hamper the ability to provide the doctor an accurate
symptom picture.
Even
minor head injury,also known as concussion, can cause substantial
difficulties or impairments that can last a lifetime.
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Whiplash too, can result in the same difficulties as head injury.
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Such impairments can be helped by rehabilitation, however many individuals
are released from treatment without referrals to brain injury rehabilitation,
or guidance of any sort.
Family
and friends feel the psychic repercussions
of the head injury
acutely as well.
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Caring for an injured family member can be very demanding and result in
economic loss and emotional burdens.
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It can change the very nature of their family life; the resultant emotional
difficulties can affect the cohesiveness of the family unit.
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Typically, the emotional damage is intense, affecting family and friends
for years afterward and sometimes leading to the breakup of previously
stable family units.
Help
is at hand.
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For many who sustain head injuries, the effects last for a few days or
weeks.
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When the effects last longer than a few months medical, legal or rehabilitation
services might be advisable.
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Whether the need is for expert professional help or knowledgeable self-help
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We can empower you navigate the mysterious landscape of brain injury.
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Call for your personalized consultation,
206-621-8558.
READ our
Disclaimer
and Privacy notice before proceeding!
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This
site was created and maintained by:
Brain
Injury Resource Center
PO Box 84151
Seattle, WA 98124-5451
206-621-8558
http://www.headinjury.org
brain@headinjury.org |
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