Car accidents often cause more serious damage than we may immediately realize, especially if a person suffers a blow to the head in the course of the accident itself. In some cases, victims may not even realize they suffered the injury, or may not remember striking their head at all.
Mild brain injuries, known as mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can create sudden changes in personality as well as cognitive function. These may affect many areas of a person’s professional and personal life, and may bring disaster if the injury does not receive proper treatment.
Those who do suffer blows to the head should seek out medical attention as soon as possible. The sooner that victims receive proper treatment and diagnosis, the sooner victims can start the road to recovery, as well as help their community and employer understand the nature of the injury.
Should you find that you did suffer a mild traumatic brain injury, an experienced personal injury attorney can help you assess your accident and determine strong strategies to build an injury claim. Injury claims aim to obtain fair compensation for your medical care, as well as income lost during time away from work and any compensation you deserve for suffering or long-term disability from the injury.
Symptoms of mild TBIs
A mild TBI may present itself a number of ways, none of which necessarily seem related. Because your brain controls the functions of all of the rest of your body’s organs and systems, a mild TBI may affect victims in different ways.
Commonly, mild TBIs affect victims’ understanding of context when they read or speak with others. While they may not forget the meaning of any individual words, they may not string together the contextual clues that bind together our communications with each other. They may also find it very difficult to complete tasks, even familiar tasks they completed easily prior to the accident. Victims often find that they are much more irritable than they were before, and may experience uncontrollable outbursts in their frustration.
In some cases, this behavior seems like the actions of a mentally ill person, and may have seriously destructive effects on all the victims’ relationships. It is important to identify and treat mild TBIs as quickly as possible, for the sake of the victim and also the community members around the victim, who may struggle to understand the injury.
Get the help you need to focus on recovery
If you or someone you love recently suffered a mild TBI in a car accident, do not wait to take control of the situation so that you can focus on the recovery. An experienced attorney can represent your rights and interests, leaving you to focus on treating the injury and getting back to your normal life as soon as you can.