Attend Factsheet 1g:
Cognitive Impairment?
Cognition usually refers to all aspects of intellectual function. It’s been defined as an “action or faculty of knowing perceiving or conceiving ... a perception, sensation, notion or intuition.” Anyone who has acquired a brain injury will have some difficulties with their cognitive skills.
Memory Function
Retrograde amnesia is the loss of memory of events leading up to the injury. Post-traumatic amnesia is the period of confusion and memory loss that follows the injury. Brain injury can lead to difficulty in learning and remembering information. After a brain injury attention and concentration can be difficult especially when maintaining concentration or interest in activities. It is also common that people have less speed of information processing; there may be a significant reduction in their speed of thought, and response time. Reduction of vocabulary and difficulty finding the proper words may happen after a brain injury as well. Problems with the senses or perceptual skills may arise. Perceptual skills are what allow you to understand the information you get from your senses. The most common problem with the senses after a brain injury is from the visual sense. Like Spatial and constructional skills in dealing with judging objects and how far away they are. Executive function is planning, problem solving, and reasoning, decision making, and self-monitoring skills which can also be affected. Along with Awareness and insight is the awareness of oneself and insight into how others might perceive them.
Behavioural changes
After a brain injury behavioural and emotional changes occur. There are many different changes. Behavioural changes after brain injuries vary. Some may appear to be exaggerations of one’s previous personality or characteristics while others can be completely out of character. Disinhibition is a common change in early recovery which is a loss of control over one’s behaviour which results in a social indecency. Irritability and aggression is the most common behavioural change after a brain injury where there is increased irritability, leading to aggression, it may come across as being short tempered. Another behavioural change is loss of initiative, where after a brain injury there becomes a passive, unresponsive, unenthusiastic behaviour. IT can come from depression or the injury itself. The last behavioural change is Egocentricity. This is where people after a brain injury, start acting self-centred and appear not to care or consider the feelings and or needs of their loved ones. It is possible that this maybe a cognitive impairment or they are unaware.
Emotional changes
The emotional impact of a brain injury can depend on the individual’s personality as well as their support team. There are many different aspects to emotional changes, like Lability, Depression, Anxiety and Frustration and Anger. Changes that can be expected are a loss of control over emotions, depression over loss of previous life, anxiety over the changes, Post-traumatic stress disorder, and frustration with their failings or slow rate of recovery.
Changes in self-concept
After a brain injury people can experience a lot of changes in how they view themselves. Life may seem to be an insoluble puzzle; things will be much harder to do than they once were. There will be new limitations.
Work, Social and Family Changes
There will be many changes in work, leisure, and social activities as well as relationships. After a brain injury Occupational changes are expected. It is very difficult to return to a previous career after a brain injury. One may have to go back with reduced hours or re-train for a new career. Leisure and social activities may change even if those with a brain injury do resume former leisure activities they may find their performance not up to par with what it once was. Physical disabilities may hinder them from being able to return to those activities. Friendships can fade away, but those that do stay are great support. Making new friends is hard, especially more intimate relationships, which usually leads to sexual frustration. One may find that they feel socially isolated feeling more dependent on family. Family relationships roles may have to change within a family. Caretakers may change, and family members may have to act as the therapist. Parents may take on the role of carer, siblings for leisure and social activities, spouses may not be attractive any longer, or take on the role as therapist and carer, and children may be confused and distressed by their parent’s changes.
Psychological Services
There are many types of services that can help with brain injuries like, cognitive assessment, which helps early recovery of cognitive skills. There is also cognitive rehabilitation, which may be a more long term recovery, where it is more specialised (like attention, memory or perception.) Another service is behavioural management this helps with managing behaviour through psychiatric opinion and medication. An option with feedback and advice is psychological counselling, it can help with rebuilding options. There is also individual psychotherapy which really helps people to re-appraise their new situation with support and guidance. Finally there is family therapy which can very much benefit children with brain injured parents. It can help them understand more about what is going on, it helps make the support group stronger.
Conclusion
The process of recovery after a severe brain injury is a long one. The previously mentioned psychological services can really help.
Contact
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