The link between brain injuries and suicide

On Behalf of | Jun 18, 2019 | Head, Neck And Spine Injuries |

When a person suffers a concussion or other type of traumatic brain injury (TBI), their treatment is often focused on healing their brain and dealing with the physical symptoms they’re experiencing. However, it’s essential to understand the impact of a TBI on a person’s mental health.

Some studies have focused on the link between TBIs and suicide. Sometimes, suicides result from mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression that can occur after a single TBI or multiple injuries over the course of years.

People who already have mental health issues, such as bipolar disorder, may see their conditions worsen after suffering a brain injury. However, sometimes people with no signs of a mental health disorder take their own lives after suffering a TBI.

Over the past 15 years, we’ve seen some cases of professional athletes who have died by suicide after suffering multiple concussions over years of playing football. Unfortunately, the concussion-related condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) that had ravaged their brains wasn’t discovered until their autopsies. That condition can still only definitively be diagnosed after a person has died, although researchers are working on ways to diagnose it in people who are still alive.

Just like CTE, concussions and TBIs can go undiagnosed as well. A person who is injured in a car accident, for example, may feel fine when they’ve actually suffered brain trauma.

That’s why it’s crucial that you seek medical treatment after any sort of blow to the head or even an accident where the head is shaken severely and get a proper diagnosis of any damage to the brain. If you or a loved one has been injured due to someone else’s actions or negligence, it’s essential to seek the compensation you need and deserve to ensure that you get the medical and potentially the mental health treatment that can help prevent further harm and even a tragic outcome like suicide.

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