Brain injuries vary in severity and by type. All brain injuries can be extremely serious but symptoms are not uniform since brain injuries are varied and complex. Each injury is unique. Below is a list of common effects of people who have acquired a brain injury :
• Cognition – Slowed processing and coordination of thoughts
• Concentration – Impaired ability to concentrate
• Reasoning – Difficulty in logical thinking
• Attention – Easy and agitated distractibility
• Blinkered mindset – Getting stuck in concerns in a single-mind frame.
• Memory – Poor or jumbled recall
• Communicating – Difficulty with word-finding and expression
• Fatigue – Easily tired then sharply dropping mental performance
• Sleep – Long-term difficulty in getting restful sleep
• Headaches – Chronic and sometimes acutely painful
• Sensory – Confusing or painful effects from ordinary sensory stimuli, e.g. sound
• Anxiety – Excessively anxious, whether for real or imagined causes
• Emotions – Mood swings and/or social / sexual behavioural changes
• Social – Acting, talking in an awkward, embarrassing, socially inappropriate way
• Depression – Stagnating unhappiness with low energy and low self-esteem
• Body movement/coordination – common in some cases of severe brain injury
People who survive the injuries might also have partial or complete paralysis, stiff or weak limbs & speech difficulties.
Remember : Every brain injury is unique and differs in each person therefore the above is not an exhaustive list.
