As we all understand the brain is involved in just about everything we do every day
Injury to this part of our body can have a very wide range of negative effects.
Impact of brain injury can vary from one person to another and depending on the severity and nature of the brain injury. It is helpful to distinguish between the initial effects when the person first acquire brain injury and the longer-term effects as they develops over the time.
In many of cases an initial brain injury leads to the change in the person’s level of understanding and perception of the surrounding world. Often there is first period during which the person is completely unconscious (or in a coma), can have detrimental effects of further recovery
The level of person consciousness is measured by the Glasgow Coma Scale. Scores on this scale vary from 3 (the person does not respond at all) to 15 (the person is able to walk, talk and is fully aware of their circumstances).
We learnt that less the person is able to respond the deeper their level of unconsciousness. The length of unconsciousness varies from a seconds to many months or years.
The longer the period of unconsciousness the more severe the brain injury is likely to be.
As the person emerges from unconsciousness they often are unable to retain new memories, unable to say where they are and even more unlikely to know what the date is. The person often comes across as confused and may say strange things, completely unrelated to the date, time or place.
Period of unconsciousness is expected and this assist nervous system to start natural healing processes.
As the person start coming round from state of unconsciousness, gentle stimulation and exposure to familiar voices is important. The family can therefore play an important role in reassuring the person about his safety and offered support.
Brain Injury survivor is likely to fatigue easily at this stage and too much stimulation, can be disheartening, as can attempting tasks which they fail. The person may react to this by getting upset, emotional, and angry much easier than used to.
It is important to look for help and advice from medics and rehabilitation team to tailor level of stimulation to the current need and level person can tolerate.
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