Author Archives: Jacob Masters
Understanding Brain Injury Emotional Fluctuations
Once a person experiences a brain concussion, even if it appears to not be severe, can lead to traumatic brain injury. A person cannot be fully certain of having a TBI (traumatic brain injury) until correct examinations are made that provide a clear diagnosis. There have been many cases when people who experienced a minor or major head blow, go on with their lives, and forget all about the injury. Later they are plagued by debilitating side effects of that same injury. Their lives are completely changed, as the people around them cannot recognize the person anymore. This is because their emotions, temperament, and personality can change completely. Dealing with …
Challenges of an Invisible Disability
Unless you live with a disability, you may not truly understand the challenges and stigmas that individuals with disabilities face on a daily basis. While many people assume that a disability is characterized by its “visibility” (such as a limp, physical disfigurement, or use of a wheelchair), there are many other disabilities that exist, but are less obvious or are even invisible. According to Donna Nesselbush, social security disability attorney at Marasco & Nesselbush, LLP, an individual with a disability may be struggling with a long term illness or may be receiving social security disability due to a recent injury that prevents one from working. Disability has many faces …
Mental Health and Brain Injury
It’s well known that a brain injury of any severity can be life changing, but many people who have experienced a traumatic brain injury are unaware that their mental health could be affected, even years after the injury occurred. Emotional Problems vs. Mental Health Disorders Emotional Health Far too often, emotional problems are confused for mental health disorders or vice versa. Although the two may be related, they are most likely separate issues and should be treated as such. When someone suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI), the way that he or she expresses emotions may change significantly. For instance, a young man who was known as being …
Brain Injuries : A Few Things You Should Know
Traumatic brain injury. These are three of the most dramatic words in the English language. The brain is an incredibly important part your body. Without your brain, you can’t think, eat, have friends, or do much of anything. If your brain suffers a traumatic injury, you could permanently lose contact with your mind. Here are five things about traumatic brain injury that everyone should know. Brain injuries play a large role in the world, are frequent, and are often underreported. Every Brain Injury is Serious There are no mild brain injuries. That’s according to a recent research published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica. Researchers have found that many forms of …
Brain Injury in Athletes
Have you ever considered what life is like for the millions of people who currently live with a traumatic brain injury? There is so much that one cannot ever imagine in these situations unless you are personally affected by it. Unfortunately, this is the everyday reality for many. Yet, sometimes doctors do not even realize this. This is partly why Traumatic Brain Injury is called the Silent Epidemic. No MRI, No TBI Millions of Americans are affected and suffering in silence; some of which are not even recognized as being real instances of the effects of brain injury. This is because these injuries do not always show up …
Brain Injury, Depression & Microglia
The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) estimates that 14.8 American adults are affected by a major depressive disorder in any given year; that’s about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population of individuals over the age of 18. Despite the overwhelming statistics, depression is a complicated disease. It affects individuals of all ages and can occur at any time and for any reason; depression is much more than just “being sad.” A recent study suggests that depression may occur when the microglia in the brain changes. The best way to describe microglia is simply as the “brain’s immune cells”. Microglia makes up 10% of all cells within the brain and …
Preventing Brain Injuries During Winter Activities
Whether you like to snowshoe after a big snowstorm, play a casual game of ice hockey, or hit the slopes on the weekends, winter activities are abundant and are a great way to ward off “cabin fever” during the seemingly long winter months. However, as with any physical activity there is a risk of receiving a brain injury, particularly with ice and snow creating hazardous conditions. Although the danger of a head injury is real and can happen at any time, there’s no reason not to go out and enjoy the snowy season; just exercise caution. Brain Injuries Aren’t Just Sport-Related Injuries The media is filled with news of …
TBI Resource Roundup
We were recently contacted with a request through our TBI Awareness Facebook page, to guest post a round-up of Traumatic Brain Injury resources. We loved this request and gladly accepted. A traumatic brain injury is life-changing, debilitating, scary, and often times not understood. However, through it all, we’ve learned that the community that surrounds traumatic brain injury is one of inclusion, support and most importantly hope. The following are resources that our team has found or been introduced to since the beginning of our journey in 2012. We highly recommend that you check these out if you are looking for inspiration, hope, data, friends, understanding or anything else TBI-related. TBI …
Apps that Can Help in the Brain Injury Recovery Process
A brain injury often leaves the victim with some level of cognitive impairment. Memory problems are common; disturbances in the ability to focus attention, communicate, and manage daily life can leave a person unable to function normally without help. New apps are being created to assist these patients in keeping track of daily life tasks, as well as repair memory functions. One of the most recent apps to be developed was created by a team of homeschool students from Mt. Washington, Kentucky. The young people in the winning team ranged in age from 12 to 15, as reported in the Courier-Journal. The award-winning app gives users a series of games …
