Not All Mental Trauma And Injuries Are The Same

When it comes to injuries, Many people use the terms “mental trauma” or “emotional damages,” without much definition. But there are actually different kinds of mental trauma or mental injury that can happen after and as a result of an accident.

One way to think about mental trauma is that there is trauma where the mental injury is the injury, and then there is mental trauma which is a result of other types of injuries.

Injuries to the Brain Itself

If you suffer an injury to the brain, of course your mental ability to function can be significantly impacted.

This is called traumatic brain injury or TBI, although injury to the brain can also happen in situations where there is a lack of oxygen to the brain (such as in a drowning accident). Because your brain has sustained an injury, your ability to cognitively function has been affected.

You may have an inability to focus, or concentrate, or remember things in the short or long term. You may find your moods fluctuating wildly, or your entire personality being different. You may find your emotions to be drastic and volatile. And you may find yourself depressed or anxious.

These are all the direct result of the accident; the symptoms and disabilities and problems listed, are the actual injury that comes after and because of a TBI. In most cases, you have something wrong with the functioning of your brain, caused by the accident.

Mental Injury That Stems From Other Injuries

Other types of mental or emotional trauma may stem from another type of (usually physical) injury after an accident.

So, for example, imagine that after an accident, you hurt your back. As a result, you can no longer play with your child, or engage in your favorite hobby. You are missing work, and the bills are mounting up. Personally, you may have a loss of self esteem sitting home recovering. As a result, you are more anxious, sad, depressed, or you get angry easier.

These are emotional or mental symptoms that stem from the accident, the back injury, and the alterations in your normal lifestyle. You have nothing clinically wrong with your brain, but rather, your brain is reacting to your “new world,” after your accident.

If you could hypothetically snap your fingers and heal all of your injuries, your mood, affect, and mental functioning, would go back to what it was before the accident.

This is, of course, a much better situation to be in; presumably your mental functioning and mood will get better, as you start to heal and get back to your normal life. Whereas in the former situation, where there is an actual clinical injury to the brain, You may never get back to your pre-injury levels.

Either way it is important to get medical treatment, to get you on the path to recovery.

Have you sustained a brain injury after an accident? Contact our Rhode Island personal injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates at 401-453-2700 today.

Sources:

mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/traumatic-brain-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20378557

familydoctor.org/post-traumatic-stress-after-a-traffic-accident/