TBI and Permanent Injury: States of Consciousness Attribute to Ability to Recover

Most often, TBI results from some sort of unexpected trauma: car crash, a fall from several stories, assault, or a pedestrian accident to name just a few. When diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, a victim’s life is never the same. Physical and mental limitations often result from a brain injury. There are a wide range of outcomes for those who suffer TBI, with the most severe resulting in the inability to do not even the basic tasks for themselves.

After a person sustains TBI, it’s important to consult with legal representation familiar with brain injuries to hold those responsible for their pain and suffering accountable. This article will provide an explanation for why certain permanent injuries due to TBI such as altered states of consciousness attribute heavily to the ability to fully recover after an accident.

What happens after an accident resulting in TBI?

Victims who sustain brain injuries must come to terms with the pain and suffering from the physical aspects of their injury. Physical injury is also known to cause undue stress and feelings of isolation. For example, being unable to care for oneself may attribute to feelings of embarrassment or fear. Reliance on home care aides or family members may take away the victim’s sense of independence. Loss of independence can directly cause mental anguish to a person who sustains a traumatic brain injury. Imagine, one second a person is active and healthy, the next, they require a Life Care Plan (coordinated by the legal and medical teams to ensure the victim receives the best lifetime care available to them).

How does TBI affect a person's ability to recover physically, and recover quality of life?

After an accident resulting in permanent, irreparable injury, such a traumatic brain injury, the resulting permanent, debilitating, and painful outcome is usually considered catastrophic in nature. This is due to the fact that when TBI is severe, a person's ability to care for themselves is altered. Epilepsy may result from a brain injury. If epilepsy is severe, it may require a person who once lived independently to lose the ability to drive, walk the dog, or prepare meals on their own because the risk of injuring themselves accidentally during a seizure is high. This is just one example of a victim's inability to fully physically recover after TBI.

When the nature of the injury turns out to be permanently debilitating, no matter the extent, mental anguish may present in the victim.

What is the definition of mental anguish in Personal injury law?

All Law defines mental anguish as follows:

[...]Mental anguish?is an element of non-economic damages usually sought in personal injury cases, medical malpractice and sometimes defamation cases. Generally, "mental anguish" translates to certain types of suffering that may include distress, anxiety, fright, depression, grief, or trauma.

How does mental anguish from TBI contribute to causing permanent harm to a victim’s mental health?

What constitutes mental anguish? Let's look at the following list of what Personal injury lawyers agree causes mental anguish:

????Distress.?Awakening from surgery to limb amputation, or burns causing severe pain, are traumatic. These are two examples of injuries that cause extreme mental and physical anguish because of physical bodily changes.

????Anxiety.?Anxiousness that causes panic attacks when a victim thinks of life with permanent injury. When one's physical state undergoes changes, they undergo undue pain and suffering.

????Fearfulness.?Fear an accident may occur again can leave the victim with mental anguish. Worrying about sustaining injuries again causes PTSD.

????Depression.?Following accidents that leave a person with permanent injury, depression is something that delays the recovery process. Depression is not the fault of the party with injuries! It's a symptom that occurs when another person acts recklessly, resulting in harm to another. Those who sustain TBI suffer from long term depression. Feelings of hopelessness, and fear of the future both contribute to further stress. Questions of "what can I do now?" and "will I ever walk again?" are common.

The following symptoms may also present in victims who have sustained brain injuries.

????PTSD

????Flashbacks

????Nightmares

????Depression

????Anxiety

????Panic attacks

????The pain of "pain and suffering"

????The suffering of "pain and suffering"

????Mental distress due to physical impairments

????Loss of independence

????Loss of sense of self

These symptoms can affect a person brain injury at any time, and there is no timeline for when a person may experience any of them.?

What are the states of consciousness that directly attribute to a patient’s recovery from TBI?

After TBI, a victim may suffer from varying states of consciousness. These range from completely conscious and able to answer questions (concussion with dizziness and headache likely), to complete brain death, in which no activity is present. In cases of complete brain death, the family of the victim must make the difficult decision whether to withdraw life support. The decision of whether to withdraw care is the most difficult a family can make, and thus, a personal injury lawyer must have compassion and experience in wrongful death cases to properly provide legal advice after the victim dies.

Let’s look at the different states of consciousness victims may present with after a head injury which results in traumatic brain injury:

• Vegetative?State?– An individual is not aware of their surroundings; however, they may begin to have sleep/wake cycles as they normally would. These patients have normal digestion, breathing, and heart rate (vital signs). It’s even possible the victim may open their eyes and look around, but this does not change their lack of awareness. The patient may also intermittently respond to stimuli.
• Persistent Vegetative State?– Doctors wait to consider a patient to be in a “persistent vegetative state” until one year after traumatic brain injury. Persistent vegetative state differs from vegetative state in that the patient has failed to show enough marked improvement to be considered aware or conscious of their surroundings. The recovery of people in this state varies, and in rare cases, several patients have regained awareness.
• Minimally Conscious State?– A patient can show slight but definite self-awareness or awareness of their surroundings. It’s possible that the patient may inconsistently speak short phrases or words or respond to doctors’ commands sporadically. Some patients can make “yes or no” gestures, follow people with their eyes, grasp or hold objects, and show appropriate emotional responses (smiling or crying upon seeing family members). The outcome of this state varies. One patient may demonstrate a few of these behaviors, while other patients can exhibit all of them. A TBI patient is considered to have overcome their minimally conscious state if they can communicate consistently ( “yes” and “no” answers) or can properly use common objects.
• Locked-in Syndrome?– A patient can only move their eyes, but not any other part of their body. The patient is conscious and able to think. The person may use eye movements and eye blinking to communicate. Locked-in syndrome is rare, but terrifying for those who experience it. This can attribute to mental anguish for the patient, as they are unable to move or communicate their needs.
• Brain Death?– A patient who sustains brain death is not alive. This is due to all brain functions, including the patient’s brain stem, no longer work. Zero brain activity is present upon multiple neurological exams. Physicians refer to the?Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA)?to make the determination of brain death based on several specific criteria. Brain death is irreversible.

These states of consciousness are usually due to catastrophic injury.

Wikipedia defines Catastrophic Injury:

[...]A?catastrophic injury?is a severe?injury?to the spine, spinal cord, or brain, and may also include skull or spinal fractures. This is a subset of the?definition?for the legal term?catastrophic injury, which is based on the?definition?used by the American Medical Association.

What type of accidents cause TBI most frequently?

????Auto accidents. These head injuries may range from concussions to severe skull fractures, brain hemorrhaging, stroke, and coma. Post-concussion syndrome may also last for an extensive period. Some symptoms are permanent. Every brain injury results in some form of permanent damage to the victim.

????Falls and workplace injuries.?Falls from several stories up or more cause severe spinal cord injuries, fractures, and sometimes paralysis which is permanent. Becoming wheelchair bound suddenly due to the recklessness of another person poses both physical and mental trauma. Victims of spinal cord injury often require extensive surgery with painful outcomes.

What is a Life Care plan as it relates to a traumatic brain injury?

We’ve discussed Life Care Plans several times throughout numerous publications; however, this information is always pertinent to review when speaking on traumatic brain injury cases. Therefore, it bears repeating for those who are unfamiliar:?

Permanent injuries alter the entire course of a TBI victim's life for the worse. Any pain and suffering sustained due to physical changes victims must come to terms with can and do unduly cause extreme stress and trauma. After TBI, many victims suffer seizures and impaired cognitive function. This can make it difficult and, in some cases, impossible to live any semblance of a normal life. Many victims who sustain a traumatic brain injury require a high level of care even after leaving a hospital and rehabilitation center. Prior to an accident the victim was more than likely ambulatory and able bodied.

Losing the ability to care for oneself after an accident can result in the need for a Life Care Plan. So, what is a Life Care Plan and when does a person require one?

A Life Care Plan is exactly what it sounds like: a plan of care for a victim after sustaining a permanent injury such as paralysis or traumatic brain injury. The plan is created in coordination with a victim's lawyer and doctors. The two parties work together as a team to create a plan of care that will account for the costs of the patient's lifetime care. On the legal side, this ensures that a personal injury client will never have to endure financial hardship while undergoing medical care for their injuries.

A Life Care Plan is unique. No two plans are alike, because no two personal injury clients are alike. The Plan can include everything from a client's most basic needs such as mobility aides (wheelchair, walker, arm crutches) to more involved long term care needs such as a home health team or ADA and accessibility accommodations made to a client's home. If a wheelchair ramp is necessary for lifelong, safe access after paralysis, the Life Care Plan accounts for these needs. In cases of injuries in which paralysis or TBI occurs, a Life Care Plan will be in place prior to trial. The judge will consider every aspect of the plan when determining a verdict.

The best attorneys do not see profit in personal injury, but real people

Credibility is any lawyer's most important trait. Without credibility, the lawyer cannot maintain a successful law firm, nor can they expect clients to place trust in them after an accident in which they are permanently injured. Litigating cases, understanding the law, and successful results do matter, but it's acting credibly (telling the truth, having transparent results, and explaining each step of the case in a way the client can understand) that ultimately puts the “bow” on the perfect lawyer package. Therefore, when it comes to settlements and verdicts, maximum compensation is awarded to the cases with credible attorneys who are honest with their clients.

In conclusion, there is no amount of money that fully restores lost quality of life when the injury is permanent. After severe injury, a client experiences a massive life change. However, expert lawyers do their absolute best to litigate these cases fairly and to the best of their ability. There is a high level of ethical, moral, and empathetic expectation which presents itself when the case is one of extreme or catastrophic nature. This means top lawyers fight for what the client deserves and will never walk away with a penny less.