By David Peel
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) are an all-too-common result in car and truck crashes. Often missed in initial emergency medical care, the longer-lasting effects of “just a concussion” surprise many of my clients.
Unfortunately, memory problems are a common problem with even a mild TBI.
What kind of memory is affected by mild TBI?
There are many types of “Memory”.
LONG TERM: Those familiar with dementia know that the patient can clearly still recall childhood, or long-term memories. These deep-seated memories are seldom affected by milder TBIs.
SHORT TERM: The patient is often asking the same questions many times, because they do not recall the answers given just hours earlier. This is sometimes affected by mild TBI but tends to be temporary in the milder cases.
PROSPECTIVE MEMORY: This area is not well-understood. Most people do not realize they are having some prospective memory issues until told by a third party (often an angry one). Prospective memory is “remembering to remember.”
Even mild TBI commonly seems to affect this area, at least for a while. It is not uncommon for a patient to confuse appointment times, locations, or dates. Taking medicine on schedule is harder. Seemingly unable to recall important occasions, such as picking up children on time, church events, birthdays, and holidays. Missing deadlines for scholarships, class reunions and counseling appointments become commonplace.
This type of problem is unlikely to be well-documented in the medical records unless a family member attends. The family member is also likely to report at least some other symptoms of a mild TBI:
Irritability
Fatigue
Headaches
Concentration issues
Vision problems
Tinnitus (ringing in ears)
Change in Sleep behavior
Concussions are also cumulative. They “pile up” and can cause serious problems. Please do not ignore these signs of a TBI following a truck or car accident.
Peel seeks justice for those injured in truck, motorcycle, and car crashes. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.
