Understanding Your Disability: Traumatic Brain Injury

A Traumatic Brain Injury, whether from a fall, a car crash, or some other accident, can change your life in a flash. It can instantly convert a healthy, working adult into someone completely unable to work. That’s why the Social Security Administration has included TBI on its List of Impairments, to make sure these accident victims are provided for in a timely way.

What is Traumatic Brain Injury?

A Traumatic Brain Injury is a sudden change in brain function caused by an outside impact or force. There are several types of TBI including concussions, closed head injuries, and penetrating injuries where the skull punctures the brain. It can be caused by bruising or other damage done when the patient’s brain hits the inside of his or her skull, or by damage done by swelling in the brain after the initial injury. Inflammation cuts off the blood supply to neighboring parts of the brain, killing nerve cells.

Every year, 52,000 Americans die from a TBI. Another 1.5 million head injuries are serious enough to require emergency room treatment every year. The elderly are particularly susceptible to traumatic brain injury from falls. Adults over the age of 75 have the highest rate of TBI hospitalization and death. Survivors of traumatic brain injury can suffer a lifetime of disability and diminished capacity, and often have to go through extensive rehabilitation to relearn what they have lost.

The Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury can have a wide variety of symptoms and effects, depending on the severity. In its more mild forms it can cause:

• Headache
• Fatigue
• Problems sleeping
• Irritability
• Light and sound sensitivity
• Balance problems
• Concentration and attention span difficulties
• Slow thinking
• Memory problems
• Nausea
• Depression and anxiety; and
  
• Emotional mood swings.

In more serious cases, these symptoms can be paired with paralysis, and physical cognitive and behavioral impairments, many of which are permanent. Even where the initial injury is deemed mild, the lasting effects of a traumatic brain injury can make working impossible.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Social Security Disability

The Social Security Administration has acknowledged the debilitating nature of traumatic brain injury and has placed it on its List of Impairments. This is a list of disabilities that can be put on a fast track to get patients their benefits faster. According to the Social Security Administration’s website:

“In some cases, evidence of a profound neurological impairment is sufficient to permit a finding of disability within 3 months post-injury.”

Because of the developing nature of the injury, and the fact that the full effect may not be known for over 6 months, the Social Security Administration also allows for TBI patients to be re-evaluated at 3 months and 6 months post-injury to see whether a disability has developed during that time.

If you are social security disability benefits as a TBI patient, you should bring on an experienced Michigan social security attorney right away. By gathering the necessary proof of disability early, a social security lawyer can help you avoid delays and unnecessary appeals.

William Crawforth has been representing Michigan residents in SSDI cases for over 20 years. He knows what the Administration needs to see to identify a disability, and can help you get it right the first time. If you or someone you know has suffered a traumatic brain injury and is looking for help, contact William Crawforth today for a free consultation.