Personal Injury Law

Boston Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors Are More Likely to Suffer from Clinical Depression

By Altman & Altman

According to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, in the year after sustaining a traumatic brain injury, about half of TBI survivors experienced an eight times greater risk of suffering from serious depression accompanied by greater mobility problems, more pain, and a harder time accomplishing their usual tasks.

559 people took part in the study. All of them displayed brain trauma signs and complications, such as disorientation and loss of consciousness. Researchers interviewed the participants over the phone several times over the course of the first year after each TBI was sustained to assess their ability to function and mood.

During the study follow-up, 53.1% of participants experienced major depression and were also more inclined to suffer from anxiety disorders. Yet only 44% of TBI patients who suffering from depression received care for this condition. Charles H. Bombardier, the lead author of study and a University of Washington School of Medicine professor, says that depression often began during the first three months and went on for at least a year or longer.

Boston Traumatic Brain Injury Cases
Our Boston, Massachusetts traumatic brain injury lawyers are familiar with the havoc that having a TBI can wreak on the patient and his/her loved ones. Living with a TBI and its resulting consequences can be traumatic, debilitating, financially draining. Personal relationships are often affected.

Car accidents, fall accidents, blunt injuries to the head, penetrating head injuries, and medical mistakes, such as birthing errors, are some of the more common causes of TBIs. Unfortunately, depression is just one of the many effects that can result from living with a TBI.

Major Depression Often Follows Brain Injury, Businessweek, May 18, 2010

Traumatic brain injuries linked to depression, Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Journal of the American Medical Association

Brain Injury Basics, Nolo

Full post as published by Boston Injury Lawyer Blog on June 10, 2010 (boomark / email).