Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Claims

Head injuries can be extremely dangerous. They can affect every aspect of a victim’s life. If you or a loved one has ever been in a car accident or been injured on the field and weren’t quite “right” afterwards, it’s likely that you’ve suffered a traumatic or mild traumatic brain injury. Even if you’ve suffered a “mild” traumatic brain injury, you may be entitled to financial compensation for any of the lasting impacts your injury may have caused. 

What is a traumatic brain injury?

Traumatic brain injuries are injuries sustained by the brain, usually as a result of a hard blow or sudden hit to the head. 

Traumatic brain injuries can be sustained in a number of ways. The brain may be jostled by being jostled in a car accident, jolted by a fall, or physically pierced by a foreign object penetrating the skull. This is known as either blunt force trauma or penetrating trauma. 

Other situations where a traumatic brain injury may occur include:

• Falls
• Sports injuries
• Boating accidents

Traumatic brain injury statistics

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can be devastating to an individual’s health and quality of life. According to the CDC, 2018 saw approximately 223,050 hospitalizations related to traumatic brain injuries. And in 2019, 60,611 individuals died as a result of a traumatic brain injury. Over 13.5 million individuals in the US are estimated to live with some sort of disability as a result of a traumatic brain injury .

Symptoms of a TBI

General symptoms of traumatic brain injuries include:

• Amnesia
• Impaired focus of consciousness
• Loss of vision
• Changes in speech
• Disorientation
• Difficulty concentrating or thinking, and/or
• Slow thinking or difficulty processing information and external input

How brain injury severity varies

Mild, moderate, and severe traumatic brain injuries have many similarities, with several key differences. 

Moderate to severe traumatic brain injury victims typically experience vomiting, a greater loss of sensory or cognitive abilities, lost coordination, and more profound confusion. 

In many cases traumatic brain injuries are also easier to qualify than mild traumatic brain injuries. This is because severe trauma is much more likely to show up on an EKG or an MRI. Fluid leaking from cranial orifices or obvious trauma such as a cracked skull are easier to see, and in many cases taken more seriously by doctors. If EKGs, MRIs, and other medical tests come back negative it can leave victims of mild traumatic brain injuries who are still suffering symptoms confused, ashamed, and at a loss. 

Adverse effects of a mild traumatic brain injury

Since the word “mild” is attached to mTBI many may believe they have no lasting impact. However, this is far from the case. The truth is that mild traumatic brain injuries can be just as devastating as normal TBIs. 

According to a recent study, roughly 1 in 5 individuals may experience adverse mental health symptoms such as depression and anxiety in the six months following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). 

Another study published in the BC Medical Journal notes that “physical illness, particularly depression, has an increased incidence following mild traumatic brain injury, possible as a result of damage to the frontal lobes.” This study also notes that personality changes, attentional problems, and other psychiatric illnesses have an increased incidence following an mTBI. 

Emotional damages, PTSD, and anxiety are also important to consider as you pursue your mild traumatic brain injury case. 

Despite a diagnosis of a “mild” traumatic brain injury, many victims of mTBIs often accrue medical debt, must take time off work or leave jobs, and may suffer lasting psychiatric illness as a result of their injury. These factors can affect both your ability to earn and your long term physical and mental health.  Because of this, in mild traumatic brain injury claims victims may be able to claim economic and non-economic damages when filing a lawsuit. 

If you or a loved one has sustained a mild traumatic brain injury, contact a Tacoma brain injury attorney at Evergreen Personal Injury Counsel. Our compassionate, knowledgeable team knows that every injury case is different, and we’ll work to get you the financial compensation that you deserve.