Brain Injury Characteristics:

Just as each individuals is unique, so is each brain injury. Physical disabilities, impaired learning and personality changes are common. Frequently reported problems include:

• Physical:
  Speech, Hearing, Paralysis, Headaches, Vision, Seizure Disorder, Muscle Spasticity, Reduced Endurance.
• Cognitive Impairments:
  Concentration, Attention, Perceptions, Planning, Communication, Writing Skills, Short Term Memory, Long Term Memory, Judgment, sequencing, Reading Skills, Orientation.
• Behavioral / Emotional Changes:
  Fatigue, Anxiety, Low Self-Esteem, Restlessness, Agitation, Mood Swings, Excessive Emotions, Depression, Sexual Dysfunction, Lack of Motivation, Inability to Cope, Self-Centeredness.

Some statistics about brain injury

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2001):

• 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury every year.
• Each year, 80,000 Americans experience the onset of long-term disability following TBI.
• More than 50,000 people die every year as a result of TBI.
• Every year, over 1.5 million Americans sustains a traumatic brain injury.
• Among those who survive, 80,000 people per year must learn to cope with lifelong losses of function.
• 5.3 Million Americans - 2% of the U.S. population currently live with disabilities resulting from a brain injury.
• Motor vehicle accidents cause 44% of brain injuries; falls, 26%; assaults and firearms, 17%; sports and recreation and other, 13%.
• An estimated 200,000 children are hospitalized each year with brain trauma and 30,000 sustain permanent disabilities.
• Every year in the U.S., 50,000 children sustain bicycle-related brain injuries; of those, over 400 die.
• Males are twice as likely to sustain a brain injury than females, and young men between the ages of 15 and 24 have the highest rate of injury.
• Every year, 50,000 Americans will die as a result of a traumatic brain injury.