4 Ways Brain Injuries Affect You After A Car Accident

If you were involved in a serious car accident, you know that a collision costs more than just money — it can cause serious injuries, stress and changes in your day-to-day life.

If you or a loved one suffers from a brain injury, it’s important to understand how it affects you. No two brain injuries are exactly the same. Some people suffer from injuries that impact their memories, while others suffer from trouble communicating or with personality changes. Here are four ways you or others could be impacted by a brain injury after a serious car accident.

1. Shortened Attention Span

You may notice a shorter attention span. It takes a lot of energy to pay attention to what’s going on in your environment. Your brain constantly takes in information to understand the world around you. When the brain suffers an injury, it has less power to process that information. In turn, you may find it harder to focus.

2. Difficulty Communicating

Depending on the part of the brain that suffered the injury, you may find it difficult to communicate with others. Perhaps you now slur your words or have become mute, or you need speech therapy. Maybe you speak very slowly, which makes it hard for others to follow what you want to say. You may think slowly, too, which makes it harder to respond quickly, even to easy questions.

3. Personality Changes or Impulsiveness

When the brain suffers from an injury, there is potential for a person to suffer from personality changes. Those changes could be due to a number of factors. For example, people struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety or depression may not act like they did before the injury. Or, if the brain is injured in certain ways, it may actually alter the way the person speaks or reacts, giving them new personality traits.

4. A Need to Relearn Old Tasks

Since memory and cognition suffer when the brain is injured, you might have to relearn how to perform basic tasks. Rehabilitation is often necessary for patients who have suffered a brain injury, and it may last months or years.

Since a brain injury causes such a major impact on your life, it’s important for the person who caused the injury to cover the expenses you accrue. Your attorney can help you take your case to court or help you with settlement negotiations while you focus on recovering from this life-altering condition.

Source: Nov. 30, -0001