Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
According to the Brain Injury Association:
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5.3 million Americans (just over 2% of the population) currently live with a disability resulting from a TBI |
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1.5 million people sustain an TBI each year |
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50,000 die due to TBI each year |
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Every 21 seconds a person in the US sustains an TBI |
These are all quotes from individuals that have endured a traumatic brain injury. They are either discussing long and/or short-term goals and/or physical and cognitive struggles they deal with as a result of the injury. As a group, due to a brain injury, these individuals have dealt with the loss of eyesight, clear speech, coordination, independent walking, and independent living, to name a few (Hrenko, Rees, Lox & O'Connor, 2003).
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"A home. To be able to wash dishes and cook my food, tie my shoes." |
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"Maybe ten percent of the time people are willing to wait to hear me. The other 90% of the time, people are too busy." |
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"For example, yesterday, I had a video in, then out, then in to test my ability to coordinate my hands. Just yesterday, I peeled an orange. I half peeled a banana too. For you it’s so easy to do, but me, I go, ‘hmmm how?’" |
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"My short term goals are just remembering to brush my teeth, take my pills, eat my breakfast. Just the simple things." |
What is a traumatic brain injury?
A brain injury can be defined as a cranio-cerebral injury that results from initial sudden forces levied to the head and secondary brain damage (e.g., raised intracranial pressure, intracranial hematoma), which leaves residual disabilities (Zoerink & Lauener, 1991).
According to the Brain Injury Association, traumatic brain injury "is an insult to the brain, not of a degenerative or congenital nature but caused by an external physical force, that may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness, which results in an impairment of cognitive abilities or physical functioning. It can also result in the disturbance of behavioral or emotional functioning. These impairments may be either temporary or permanent and cause partial or total functional disability or psychosocial maladjustment." Adopted by the Brain Injury Association Board of Directors, February 22, 1986. This definition is not intended as an exclusive statement of the population served by the Brain Injury Association of America.
A brain injury can also be referred to as an acquired brain injury. The Brain Injury Association has a further definition of an acquired injury:
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An acquired brain injury is an injury to the brain, occurring after birth, which is not hereditary, congenital, degenerative, or induced by birth trauma. |
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It commonly results
in a change in neuronal activity, which effects the physical integrity, the
metabolic activity, or the functional ability of the cell. An acquired brain
injury may result in mild, moderate, or severe impairments in one or more
areas, including cognition, speech-language communication; memory; attention
and concentration; reasoning; abstract thinking; physical functions;
psychosocial behavior; and information processing. It takes place at the
cellular level, therefore injury can effect cells throughout the entire
brain, instead of just in specific specific areas as with traumatic brain
injury. |
A brain injury is unpredictable in its consequences and it affects who we are, the way we think, act, and feel. The most important things to remember:
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A person with a brain injury is a person first |
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No two brain injuries are exactly the same |
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The effects of a brain injury are complex and vary greatly from person to person |
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The effects of a brain injury depend on such factors as cause, location, and severity |
A Healthy Brain
To understand what happens when the brain is injured, it is important to realize the functions of healthy brain. The brain is enclosed inside the skull, which serves as a protective covering for the soft brain tissue. The brain is made of neurons (nerve cells) that form tracts that route throughout the brain. These nerve tracts transport messages to various parts of the brain and the brain uses these messages to perform functions. The functions include our coordinating our body’s systems, such as breathing, heart rate, body temperature, and metabolism; thought processing; body movements; personality; behavior; and the senses, such as vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Each part of the brain serves a specific function and links with other parts of the brain to form more complex functions.
An Injured Brain
When a brain injury occurs, the functions of the neurons, nerve tracts, or sections of the brain can be effected, possibly preventing or interfering with the transport of messages that command the brain. This can change the way a person thinks, acts, feels, and moves the body. A brain injury may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness and results in impairments of physical, cognitive, social, behavioral or emotional functioning (Porretta, 2000). Brain injuries can also change the complex internal functions of the body, such as regulating body temperature; blood pressure; bowel and bladder control. These changes can be temporary or permanent. They may cause impairment or a complete inability to perform a function.
Causes of Traumatic
Brain Injury
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A traumatic brain injury occurs when an outside force impacts the head hard enough to cause the brain to move within the skull (closed head injury) or if the force causes the skull to break and directly hurts the brain (open head injury). These injuries can occur from motor vehicle crashes, gun shot wounds, falls, shaking (a baby), sports, and physical violence, such as hitting or striking with an object. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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A rapid acceleration and deceleration of the head can force the brain to move back and forth across the inside of the skull. The stress from the rapid movements pulls apart nerve fibers and causes damage to brain tissue. This type of injury often occurs as a result of motor vehicle crashes and physical violence, such as Shaken Baby Syndrome. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Causes of brain injury can include, but are not limited to:
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Injuries can range from very mild to very severe, and depending on the location of the brain injury, impairments may include:
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Social, emotional, and behavioral impairments may include:
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Cognitive impairments, which can affect both the physical and emotional self, often result in:
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For information and resources about brain injury, please contact the Brain Injury Association of America’s Helpline at 1-800-444-6443 or email: familyhelpline@biausa.org.
Brain Injury Association of America. bia.usa.org. Retrieved from the World Wide Web October 1, 2003.
Hrenko, B.K., Rees, K.S., Lox, C., O'Connor, J. (2003). The effects of aquatic and land exercise on activities of daily living among individuals with traumatic brain injury. Thesis submitted at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in partial completion of the requirements for M.S. in Education with an emphasis in Kinesiology.
Porretta, D. (2000). Cerebral Palsy, Stroke, and Traumatic Brain Injury. In J. P. Winnick (Ed.), Adapted Physical Education and Sport (pp. 187-196). Champaign: Human Kinetics.
Zoerink, D.D., Lauener, K. (1991). Effects of a leisure education program on adults with traumatic brain injury. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 25(3), 19-28.
Links
Information on this sheet contains only suggested guidelines. Each person must be considered individually, and in many cases, a physician's written consent should be obtained.
This webpage was created by Betsy Hrenko, Doctoral student in Adapted Physical Education at Texas Woman's University, Fall Semester 2003. Contact betsyhrenko@hotmail.com for questions, comments.
