Traumatic Brain Injury Disabilities

Washington, D.C., Maryland, & Virginia

Any type of brain injury is a serious matter that requires more than just medical treatment. In many cases, legal attention is necessary to ensure that you receive the proper compensation for your injuries. At Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C., our personal injury lawyers are dedicated to helping you understand the rights of a patient suffering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

While a TBI may not result in death, there may be substantial brain injury complications for the victim. Quality of life can be forever altered by a disability stemming from the injury. Permanent disabilities can be cognitive, emotional or physical. Often, they may require lifelong treatment or at least drastic changes to a former lifestyle.

Types of Disabilities

Disabilities resulting from a TBI depend upon the age and health of the patient, the extent of the injury, and where it is located. Some common disabilities include:

• Psychiatric Problems: Most TBI patients who have emotional or behavioral problems after their accident find they affect overall psychiatric health. Issues that surface include depression, anxiety, anger, paranoia, irritability, confusion, mood swings, and insomnia. Further behavioral problems include aggression/violence, social inappropriateness, emotional outbursts, impaired self-control and alcohol or drug abuse/addiction.
• Cognitive Deficit: Patients can become easily confused or distracted and have trouble concentrating. They also have problems with functions such as problem solving, planning, and organizing. These issues make it difficult to resume a normal lifestyle and perform work-related tasks.
• Sensory Deficit: Vision impairment is the most common sensory deficit from a TBI. Patients may not be able to identify what they see. Hand-eye coordination also suffers, and patients may seem unsteady or clumsy. Other sensory deficits include problems with hearing, taste, touch and smell. Sensory damage depends on what part of the brain was injured. You can read more about treatments and healing at our Brain Injury Vision Therapy page.
• Amnesia: Memory loss is the most common impairment after a severe head injury. It can be a loss of specific memories, an inability to retain new ones, or both. Memory loss may relate to times before the injury or after it.
• Dysarthria: When a patient has dysarthria, he can think of the correct words, but has difficulty speaking them. He is unable to use the muscles needed to form the words and create the sounds. Speech may be slurred, garbled or slow. Dysarthria occurs when the brain's speech center is damaged.

After a brain injury, everyday tasks can become extremely difficult. Suddenly, a great deal of mental effort must be exerted to do things that were once second nature. Relationships, job performance and academic endeavors can all suffer. When this happens, it is important to seek assistance from an experienced brain injury lawyer.

If you or someone you care about has a disability stemming from a TBI, please email our Washington, D.C. personal injury attorneys or call us for a free and confidential consultation.

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