March is TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) Awareness Month

 According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, March is Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month. The CDC and other partner organizations, working together, will use the month of March to focus on raising awareness of how to prevent situations which can lead to TBI, how to recognize when a Traumatic Brain Injury has occurred, and how to respond.

What is TBI exactly? It stands for Traumatic Brain Injury, and can be caused by a bump or blow to the head. Not all blows to the head will cause TBI. The severity of a Traumatic Brain Injury can range from mild to severe. A brain injury can be classified as mild if there is a period of unconsciousness or disorientation that lasts for less than 30 minutes. CAT scan results might even show as normal. A brain injury is classified as severe if the loss of consciousness lasts longer than 30 minutes, and the resulting memory loss lasts for longer than 24 hours.

Most TBIs are mild, such as a concussion after an injury, and it has been found that approximately 1.7 million Americans suffer a TBI annually.

What are some of the primary causes of TBI in the United States? Research has shown that the leading cause of brain injury is from falls. A total of 35.2% of TBIs occur as a direct result of a fall. Statistics show that falls account for half of the TBIs among children from 0 to 14 and for 61% of all TBIs among senior citizens, those 65 or older. It has been shown that the highest rate of hospitalization and death from TBI occurs in people 75 years and older.

The second-highest cause is traffic accidents. https://askcompetentlawyer.com/ Motor vehicle crashes and traffic-related incidents account for 17.3%, and this category accounts for the highest percentage of adult deaths related to TBI (31.8%). Motorcycle accidents many times result in Traumatic Brain Injury.

And the third leading cause, usually fatal, is firearms.

Some other common causes of TBIs are child abuse and domestic abuse.

One interesting fact is that sometimes the person with a brain injury often does not realize that a brain injury has occurred.

Symptoms of TBI normally fall into four categories:

1. Trouble thinking or remembering;
2. Physical problems, such as headache, nausea & vomiting, sensitivity to light and noise, balance problems;
3. Emotional and mood problems, such as irritability, unexplained depression, nervousness or anxiety; and
4. Changes in sleep patterns.


The CDC hopes to decrease the number of TBIs that occur each year by bringing awareness to the issue and educating the public on prevention, and hopes to decrease severity by developing clinical guidelines for the treatment of those who have sustained a severe TBI.

For more information on traumatic brain injury, check out these sites:

Atlanta CDC's webpage to "Give Brain Injury a Voice"

Behavioral Healthcare website has a good article about Brain Injury Awareness Month.