Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) also known as intracranial injury occurs when trauma causes damage to the brain. This is a result of a fall, an accident, or a sudden hit to the head that causes damage to the brain tissue. TBI symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe, depending on exact damage. Someone experiencing mild TBI may experience a loss of consciousness for a few seconds. Some symptoms of mild TBI are confusion, headaches, blurred vision, lightheadedness, dizziness, behavioral or mood changes, and problems with memory or thinking. A person with moderate or severe TBI experience the same symptoms, but their headaches never really go away, have convulsion, loss of coordination, and inability to awaken from sleep. Anyone suffering from moderate or severe TBI must seek medical attention immediately. TBI can cause emotional, behavioral, cognitive, physical, and social problems. It can be a major cause of disability and even lead to death.

A brain injury can cause emotional and behavioral problems like having problems expressing their emotions or mood swings. A person can get angry easily, but get over it very quickly. A person can have uncontrollable laughing and crying episodes. They may laugh at a sad story and cry at a funny story. They have no control over their emotions. They can have an outburst at anytime and their family members don’t understand what may have triggered that may outburst. The family members may think they did something to upset that person. TBI can also trigger aggressive behavior. According to Rao et al. (2009),

Aggression is one of the most common consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI). …Aggression may manifest as verbal and/or physical aggression, but it is unclear if differing expressions of ag...

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...ury: Interaction between emotion recognition, mentalizing ability, and social communication. Neuropsychology, 18(3), 572-579. doi:10.1037/0894-4105.18.3.572

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Rao, V., Rosenberg, P., Bertrand, M., Salehinia, S., Spiro, J., Vaishnavi, S.,… Miles, Q. S. (2009). Aggression after traumatic brain injury: Prevalence and correlates. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 21(4), 420-429. Retrieved from http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org

Schofield, P. W., Moore, T. M., & Gardner, A. (2014). Traumatic brain injury and olfaction: A systematic review. Frontiers in Neurology,5(5), 1-22. doi:10.3389/fneur.2014.00005