Living with brain injury (A-Z)

A brain injury can cause many physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioural effects, which can have an impact on many different aspects of life.

Browse through the topics below to find out more.

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44 topics

Alcohol

Drinking alcohol is generally discouraged after brain injury, as the brain's tolerance to alcohol can reduce after injury.

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Anger

Anger is a normal human emotion experienced by everyone. However, some brain injury survivors have more difficulty with managing anger and may have more frequent outbursts.

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Anxiety

Anxiety can be described as a feeling of worry, fear or tension felt in response to stressful or ‘threatening’ life events. It is a common consequence of brain injury, and there are many reasons why someone may feel anxious after their injury.

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Ataxia

Ataxia is a condition in which the body is unable to control muscles in the body, affecting a wide range of skills that rely on muscular control.

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Balance problems and dizziness

There are various systems in the body that are responsible for maintaining balance, and the brain plays a key role in this skill. Unfortunately, problems with balance and dizziness can therefore develop after brain injury, causing a wide range of difficulties and affecting people’s quality of life.

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Case management

A case manager is responsible for overseeing, co-ordinating and managing the overall care and/or rehabilitation of their client.

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Communication problems

Communication problems after brain injury are very common. The ability to communicate requires extremely complex skills, and many different parts of the brain are involved.

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Compensation claims

In cases where someone else was responsible for causing a brain injury, legal action may be necessary. This typically takes the form of claiming compensation.

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Continence problems

After brain injury, urinary and bowel continence problems can occur alone or at the same time, and can range in severity from just a small leak to a complete loss of function.

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Decision making difficulties

Decision making involves a lot of different processes, and this means that if any one of these processes is affected by brain injury, the ability to make decisions may be impaired.

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Depression

Depression occurs when feelings of sadness and hopelessness persist over time and these feelings impact on your ability to engage in regular daily activities.

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Discrimination

It is unlawful for someone to discriminate against anyone else because of their disability. There are several different types of discrimination that are prohibited under the Equality Act.

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Driving

Driving is a skill that many people rely on for independence, socialising and daily tasks. Unfortunately, the various skills needed for driving can often be affected by brain injury.

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Epilepsy

After a brain injury some people may develop sudden onsets of random and erratic electrical activity in their brain. This is called a seizure, and can commonly cause symptoms such as a change in or loss of consciousness, shaking or convulsing, or tongue biting.

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Executive dysfunction

People with injury to their prefrontal cortex can develop difficulties with their executive function skills, and when this happens, it is described as executive dysfunction.

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Face blindness (prosopagnosia)

People with prosopagnosia cannot tell the difference between faces, including familiar faces such as their closest friends and family, or their own face in the mirror.

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Fatigue

Fatigue is generally described as an extreme tiredness and lack of energy, not relieved by sleep or rest. Fatigue is one of the most common effects of brain injury.

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Headaches

Headaches are one of the most common effects of brain injury, especially following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Headaches that develop after sustaining a TBI are referred to as post-traumatic headache.

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Holidays and travel

After a brain injury, planning a holiday might require even more care and you might need to look for locations that can accommodate your needs.

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Hormones

The human body relies on chemical messengers, called hormones, to function properly. Injury to the brain can affect the production and activity of hormones, causing wide-ranging symptoms that can affect physical health, mental well-being and overall quality of life.

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Identity

The long-term effects and impact of the injury can often make people feel like they are a ‘new person’. This unfamiliar identity can be a very confusing and difficult thing to adjust to, both for the person themselves and others around them.

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Insurance policies

After a brain injury (or any serious injury), it is important that the injured party or their family checks for any insurance policies there are in place.

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Memory problems

Memory is easily affected by brain injury because there are several structures within the brain that are involved in memory, and injury to any of these parts can impair memory performance.

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Menopause

The number of people surviving brain injury is increasing over time, and that means that more women with brain injury are living to the age when menopause will typically begin.

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Mental capacity

When a person is unable to make specific decisions for themselves due to brain injury i.e. an "impairment or disturbance in the functioning of the mind or brain", this is called lacking mental capacity.

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Parenting

People with brain injuries often report that not only has their ability to carry out parenting roles been affected by their injury, but also their relationship with their children has changed.

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Personal injury trusts

A personal injury trust could be used to ensure that a brain injury survivor is able to claim all of the state benefits/care funding that they may be entitled to, as well as ensuring there is a suitable structure in place to manage their funds in the future.

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Post-traumatic amnesia

Post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) is the time after a period of unconsciousness when the injured person is conscious and awake, but is behaving or talking in a bizarre or uncharacteristic manner.

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Post-traumatic growth

The experience of positive change following a traumatic period is known as post-traumatic growth (PTG).

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Psychological effects

A brain injury can result in a confusing array of psychological changes. These range from subtle and temporary lapses in ability and behaviour, to a profound and permanent reduction in basic skills and loss of control of emotion and behaviour.

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Redeveloping skills

Often there are times between periods of rehabilitation, or when formal hospital rehabilitation has finished, when someone who has a brain injury is at home for long periods of time. If this time is used carefully, it can help towards continuing the process of recovery, and prevent possible boredom or loss of skills.

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Relationships

The effects of brain injury can have an overall impact on a person's personality, behaviour and skills, and this, in turn may affect relationships. There are a number of ways in which this can happen. Some relationships may strengthen, whereas others may become strained over time or even completely break down.

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Safeguarding

The effects of brain injury can unfortunately make brain injury survivors vulnerable to being exploited or mistreated by others and may even impair the survivor’s ability to recognise when they are in danger.

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Sex and sexuality

A brain injury can cause a wide range of issues that can affect various aspects of a brain injury survivor’s sex life. The brain injury survivor’s interest in sex may change, or they may no longer able to have sex in the same way as they did before their injury.

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Sleep problems

The ability to get to sleep and stay asleep, and the quality of sleep can be affected by a brain injury. On the other hand, a brain injury may affect someone’s ability to stay awake, so that they either feel sleepy during the day or fall asleep when they should be awake.

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Studying and education

Some brain injury survivors may therefore be hesitant about the idea of returning to education, but with the right support and research beforehand, it is entirely possible to complete an educational course after brain injury.

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Swallowing problems (dysphagia)

Swallowing and chewing difficulties are known as dysphagia. This condition is common after brain injury, particularly after stroke or severe traumatic brain injury.

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Taste and smell problems

After a brain injury, people may notice changes to their senses of taste and smell. Taste and smell can be changed, partially lost or completely lost. For some people, tastes and smells can become unfamiliar or unpleasant.

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The Equality Act 2010 - a guide for brain injury survivors

The Equality Act came into force in 2010 and brought together a number of different legislations on equality and individual rights. It protects the rights of people with a disability both in society and within the workplace.

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Vision

The brain has a key role to play in our ability to see. It receives visual information from our eyes, such as light, colour and shapes, and makes sense of it so that we can see the world around us.

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Volunteering

Returning to full-time, paid work can be difficult for many people after brain injury. Volunteering can be a way to return to work-type activities without the strict expectations that paid work usually involves.

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Weakness or paralysis (one-sided)

Hemiplegia (paralysis of one side of the body) or hemiparesis (weakness of one side of the body) can often occur following a brain injury, particularly after stroke. Both conditions can make everyday tasks extremely difficult.

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Welfare benefits

Welfare benefits are a type of financial assistance provided to people who are on low incomes or cannot work due to illness or disability. There are several types of benefits that people affected by brain injury may be eligible for.

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Work and employment

A brain injury can affect many of the skills that we rely on to work. While different jobs require different skill sets, some skills are common to many roles. Unfortunately, a brain injury can affect many of these skills, among others.

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