Introduction |  The Brain Injury Association: A Synopsis |  HelpSource |  General Questions to Ask Any Provider |  An Overview of Brain Injury |  What are some long-term consequences? |  Advocacy, Appeals, and Rights |  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

An Overview of Brain Injury

A brain injury refers to an injury in which an insult has caused damage to the brain. There may be a period of unconsciousness immediately following the event. Because each injury does damage to a different part of the brain, each brain injury is unique.

Major causes of brain injury include motor vehicle crashes, bicycle crashes, violence, falls, near-drownings, aneurysms, strokes, and diseases such as encephalitis.

Brain injury happens in all communities, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, socio-economic class, or other variables.

Mild brain injury may occur with no loss of consciousness or noticeable physical injury. Persons with mild brain injury may still experience symptoms and impairments associated with brain injury. Unfortunately, many brain injuries go undiagnosed for weeks, months or even years post-injury.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 5.3 million Americans, more than two percent of the United States population, currently live with disabilities from traumatic brain injury. Each year, approximately 80,000 Americans experience the onset of disabilities resulting from brain injury. Each year, 1 million people are treated and released in hospital emergency rooms, and 50,000 people die from brain injury.

Introduction |  The Brain Injury Association: A Synopsis |  HelpSource |  General Questions to Ask Any Provider |  An Overview of Brain Injury |  What are some long-term consequences? |  Advocacy, Appeals, and Rights |  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)