Depression And Cognitive Difficulties Often Follow Car Accidents Where The Individual Has Suffered A Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
According to a recent study published by the American Journal of Psychiatry, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common occurrence with multiple possible psychiatric sequelae including problems with cognition, emotion and depression. I am currently representing a client who was in a car accident and she is extremely fearful of being in a car and experiences flashbacks several times a day concerning the accident, experiences daily panic attacks, nightmares, blurred vision, and finds herself in a depressed state mixed with episodes of severe anxiety and agitation. She describes herself as being irritable and short tempered yet displayed none of the symptomology prior to her accident. This kind woman was referred for neurological and neuropsychological assessment to assess the etiology of her cognitive impairment of concentration and memory, as well as additional visual disturbances. An MRI was performed on her brain which revealed abnormalities in the subcortical white matter, one on the right frontal lobe and the other in the left temporal lobe. Additionally, the client reported problems with word retrieval, organizing her thoughts into words and the loss of train of thought since the accident, as well as difficulty recognizing people’s faces and difficulty recalling information. Objective testing indicated that not only had our client sustained orthopedic and internal injuries but also a closed head injury resulting in cognitive and emotional sequelae stemming from the car accident.
The insurance company attorney claims that despite the objective findings, our client is exaggerating her symptoms. Unfortunately, this client is caught in a vicious cycle where all of her sequelae, whether they be physical, cognitive or psychological, are interacting with one another making it very difficult for her to regain control of her life as it was prior to the accident.
Traumatic brain injury is quite common in car accidents or any other violent accident where a blow to the head can cause damage to the brain. Traumatic brain injury is not only caused in car accidents but also in sporting accidents, slip and fall in premise liability cases, and violent crime. Objective testing is able to demonstrate that particular areas of the brain are damaged. The symptoms exhibited by my client are fairly typical, yet go undetected or unnoticed by an untrained physician, attorney or anyone else evaluating the claim. Many times we find closed head trauma or brain injury victims may not recognize the extent of their injuries until weeks or months after the injury had occurred.
If you have been involved in a car accident and have sustained an impact to the head, you may have suffered a traumatic brain injury which can seriously alter your life. People who have suffered severe traumatic brain injuries may need to depend on family members or other caregivers to attend to their basic needs on a long term basis. Even people displaying less severe symptoms may discover a loss of coordination or slower cognitive ability that prevents them from performing their work at the same level as before their injury and accordingly, the medical recovery and costs of living with a traumatic brain injury can be quite significant.
The experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyers at Reiff & Bily recognize the impact that a closed head or brain injury may have on a client and have been successful in obtaining compensation from responsible parties for the injuries to cover medical expenses, rehabilitation, lost income, pain and suffering and home or resident care. For a free, no obligation consultation, please contact the experienced traumatic brain injury and car accident lawyers at Reiff & Bily at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com to schedule your free consultation with one of our Philadelphia traumatic brain injury lawyers.
