Mental health issues can be pervasive following a brain injury. These are not just limited to physical alterations in the brain but are also caused by identity-level changes. If your brain injury has caused you to become immobile, it will massively affect your sense of self.
This can drive people to the point of suicide if they do not seek the proper help. If you have lingering emotional issues and notice major changes in your personality following a brain injury, you should ask for as much support as possible.
Let’s explore more about mental health issues caused by brain injuries.
Clinical Depression
One of the most common mental health issues that can arise following a brain injury is clinical depression. If you’ve never experienced depression before, it can make it extremely difficult for you to cope with your daily life.
If you’ve already had it, it will still be pretty severe and can make you feel like you’ve lost all the coping strategies you developed. Clinical depression from brain injuries can be crippling and cause little to no motivation, causing you to feel isolated and lethargic all day.
You may lose the ability to experience pleasure and joy, creating a deep sadness in your life. Depression also causes many other symptoms, including suicidal ideation, which is seriously concerning.
However, this doesn’t mean that healing is not possible. You can seek help from medical professionals like clinical psychologists and psychiatrists. You may be treated with antidepressants and other medications to boost your recovery.
Anxiety Problems
Depending on the severity of your brain injury, you may develop anxiety problems. For example, if you’re still mobile, you can return to a sense of normalcy in your life. However, you may be dealing with long-term symptoms from your brain injury that leads to anxiety flare-ups.
It is not uncommon for brain injury survivors to develop social or generalized anxiety disorders. These can be crippling and incredibly difficult to deal with. Your brain may constantly seek out threats in the external environment and be in a hypervigilant state. This can lead to feelings of despair, especially if it feels like you’ll never recover.
Although treatment exists and can produce results, many symptoms are complicated and produce significant turmoil in people’s lives. Brain injuries can create chemical changes in the brain that lead to a cascade of long-term effects, causing mental health issues.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is another serious mental health condition that can arise from brain injuries. If you’ve experienced a concussion, you may develop post-traumatic stress disorder. It can create intense and overwhelming feelings of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.
You may also develop insomnia and experience flashbacks of the traumatic incident.
However, PTSD from brain injuries is not always the same as the trauma veterans often experience during overseas deployment. Patients have a reasonable chance of recovery with time, especially if they undergo the proper treatment.
Personality Changes
Many patients who suffer from traumatic brain injuries report experiencing personality changes. People can feel like their identity has changed or shifted, which is untrue.
Brain injury survivors are likely experiencing severe mood changes due to fluctuating emotions. These changes can lead them to believe their personality has been altered since they don’t feel like they used to. For example, they may find themselves feeling irritable and angry throughout the day. Or they may experience sharp fluctuations in their mood, leading them to believe something fundamental has changed.
However, treatment is possible to deal with these symptoms. You can discuss a treatment plan with your psychiatrist to find the right medications for your needs. You may also find a clinical psychologist or therapist to work with every week.
Contact Bourassa Law Group for Your Brain Injury Case
If you’ve been injured due to a third party’s negligence, you can pursue legal action against them. Traumatic brain injury cases can be handled by competent lawyers, meaning you should find the perfect one for your needs.
The Bourassa Law Group specializes in handling personal injury cases. It also has a team of lawyers dedicated to brain injury cases, meaning you will have excellent odds of winning your case. Contact Bourassa Law Group today to receive the maximum settlement amount for your economic and non-economic damages. You can reach them at (800)870-8910.
1-800-870-8910