10 Things I Wish People Knew About Brain Injuries

It is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and we want to share with you 10 things about brain injuries that some may be unaware about.

1. Brain Injury is one of the most common disabling conditions. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 4.5% of the US population is living with a brain injury!
2. Many people tend to associate brain injury with military service or athletic activities. However, some of the most common ways people suffer brain injuries are falls, vehicle accidents and strokes.
3. The brain controls our entire body so a brain injury can influence every part of a survivor’s life. Our brain controls our entire lived experience. A brain injury can impact everything from memory to walking to personality and everything in between. 
4. A brain injury is not the same as being developmentally disabled or “being a child”. A person with a brain injury may have many significant post-injury changes but that does not mean the person has lost their knowledge and wisdom or the right to be respected.
5. Rehabilitation works! Research shows that the best recovery results do not come from a brain injury survivor lying around in a bed for a long time but from being actively involved in a rehabilitation program such as at Moody Neuro.
6. Adaptations matter! Often a brain injury survivor with significant deficits can perform at a level equal to other people with the right equipment and/or techniques.
7. Recovery from a serious brain injury does not mirror a TV show recovery. On TV, a person can be severely injured in the beginning of the show and all better by the end of the show. In reality, recovery from a serious brain injury is a time and energy-intensive process.
8. A brain injury can be a new start at a better life. Many of our former Moody patients used their brain injury experience as a jumping off point for healthier and more successful lives than pre-injury!
9. There are many successful brain injury survivors. For instance, President Joe Biden and “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke are aneurysm survivors. Actor Jackie Chan survived a traumatic brain injury and singer Bret Michaels survived a stroke. Former President Abraham Lincoln and former slave-turned abolitionist Harriet Tubman both survived serious traumatic brain injuries in their youth to become among the most influential people in US history!
10. One of the most important things that a brain injury survivor needs is the love and support of family and friends. Survivors need that love and support to carry them through the emotional ups and downs of brain injury recovery. No person is an island, and no survivor can do it alone!

Courtney Gifford