The Common Effects of Brain Injury
A list of the effects associated with acquired brain injury; including the common cognitive, physical, emotional and medical effects.
Common cognitive effects include:
Poor concentration, slowed responses, lack of insight, poor short term memory, lack of initiative, inflexibility, poor planning and problem solving, talking excessively, difficulties in understanding speech, and inappropriate sexual behaviour.
Common physical effects include:
Fatigue, balance problems, paralysis, decreased motor control, sleep disturbances, communication difficulties, hearing loss, visual problems, and difficulty with temperature control.
Common emotional effects include:
Depression, anxiety, mood swings, emotional lability, lack of self control (disinhibition), irritability, temper, impulsivity, socially inappropriate behaviour, self-centredness, and dependency.
Common medical effects include:
Epilepsy, swallowing difficulties, incontinence, changes to sense, headaches, psychiatric symptoms such as visual and auditory hallucinations and hydrocephalus (an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within cavities called ventricles inside the brain).