Brain Injury Awareness Month

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Green Ribbon Over 2.8 million brain injuries occur annually in the US. They are often invisible–you may know someone living with one! Brain injuries can be caused by car accidents, falls, concussions, domestic violence, assaults, blast injuries, strokes, and more. They can occur to anyone, at any time, and can last a lifetime.

Join BEST for Brain Injury Awareness month as we explore the causes and prevalence of brain injury, common cognitive and emotional challenges, the impact of brain injury on everyday life, and the resilience of survivors on what is a lifelong journey.

Brain injury statistics
Impact of Brain Injury
Brain Injury Stories
The Brain Injury Journey
Register for our webinar series

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Brain Injury

69 million traumatic brain injuries annually worldwide
At least 1.8 million Americans each year sustain a TBI
2nd most prevalent disability in the US
Every 9 seconds a person in the U.S. experiences a brain injury.
$76.5 billion in annual costs for TBI alone in 2012 for care and lost productivity

Concussions

According to CDC estimates, 1.6-3.8 million sports and recreation-related concussions occur yearly in the U.S.
10% of all contact sport athletes sustain concussions yearly.
Brain injuries cause more deaths than any other sports injury.

These numbers understate the actual number of brain injuries because many people to not seek treatment and thus are not captured in the above statistics.

Stats provided from:

J Neurosurg 2018 Apr 1;1-18. doi: 10.3171/2017.10.JNS17352.
https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/data/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/TraumaticBrainInjury/index.html

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Injuries impact all aspects of everyday life, disrupting:

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Learning & cognition

Inattention
Lack of focus
Memory
Self-regulation
Time management
Executive function
Confusion
Brain fog

Family dynamics

Relationships
Divorce
Family roles
Caregiver burdens
Communication

School performance

Learning
Grades & test scores
Social skills & relationships
Self-esteem

Professional

Loss of identity
Loss of social status
Loss of colleagues & relationships
Loss of self-esteem
Loss of confidence
Loss of career after a lifetime of effort

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Emotional well-being

Depression
Anxiety
Frustration, anger & outbursts
Suicide
Isolation & loneliness
Impaired social skills
Impact on relationships
Feeling left behind by society

Speech

Reading comprehension
Writing
Spelling
Thought organization
Auditory processing

Financial/Employment

Loss of job & income
Loss of future income and retirement savings
Loss of health insurance
Loss of home
Food & housing insecurity
Drain savings

Brain injury can have a profound impact even on those you don’t notice. Imagine investing a lifetime in learning, education, experience, and hard work to achieve your ideal job, professional status, and financial security, only to have it disappear without warning at the moment of brain injury. You feel robbed of your life and your future. Can you and your family survive the change? How do you rebuild, relearn, and reframe a new future?

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Traumatic Brain Injury
What if you became me? That’s the question one BEST participant asked a neurologist after he dismissed her concerns about “average” and “above average” test scores after brain injury. After decades of academic achievement and success as a trial lawyer, the survivor knew that her cognition, learning skills, memory, and processing speed were nowhere near what they used to be – or what they needed to be for her to continue her career as a lawyer. She asked the Harvard MD/Johns Hopkins PhD if he could continue his career if he drove home that night, got in a car accident, and woke up tomorrow with her post-injury struggles. What if you became me?

Too many healthcare professionals dismiss the losses endured by professionals and other high achievers who spent lifetimes building their education and careers, only to see them lost in an instant. At BEST, we believe that all brain injury survivors deserve a chance to become the best they can be.

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