Levels of brain injury
A traumatic brain injury may be mild, moderate, or severe in nature. A mild traumatic brain injury is also known as a concussion. Most people (about 85-90%) recover from a concussion within a couple of days to weeks.
What if I had a concussion and I’m still having problems months or years later?
Occasionally, problems with mood, sleep, or pain get in the way of normal recovery. Use of medications for sleep, low mood, and pain can also interfere with the normal brain recovery process. When that happens, therapy can help break out of the cycle preventing a healthy recovery. It is important to understand that concussions are 100% treatable. If you had a concussion are are still struggling to return back to normal life, it is likely that something interfered with your recovery process.
Effects of moderate and severe brain injury
Moderate and severe traumatic brain injuries often have lasting effects. These may include:
- mood changes
- sleep disruption
- anger problems
- impulse control problems
- memory and attention problems
People who have suffered a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury may also have a difficult time returning to their school, work, or family life because their personality or thinking is affected. People may tell them them they are “just not the same person.” To make things worse, if you were a successful person before you had a TBI, you probably are constantly comparing yourself to the person you used to be and trying to get back to being that person. This can be very demoralizing.
Healthy Mind Sacramento Traumatic Brain Injury Therapy
Healthy Mind Sacramento offers treatment to target the changes often seen in traumatic brain injury. Therapy for traumatic brain injury usually includes both individual cognitive rehabilitation therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. The goal of cognitive rehabilitation is to learn different strategies, or “work arounds” for areas of cognitive weakness, and build upon areas of cognitive strength. Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches healthier ways of thinking and new patterns of behavior. This helps with mood. It can also help with anger and impulse control. Finally, many people with traumatic brain injury need some help with building healthy sleep patterns.
Our neuropsychologists have experience working with both kids and adults from prior work at Shriners and Department of Veteran’s Affairs. If you have questions about your brain injury and what you can do to help your recovery, please feel free to get in touch!