It should go without saying that a traumatic brain injury is unlike anything a person will experience in life. Unlike other types of serious injuries, a TBI affects nearly every part of the person. This includes a person’s physical, psychological, social, and spiritual life. It is a complete transformation that occurs in the blink of an eye. A person suffering from such an injury will have difficulty thinking, communicating, and connecting with other people almost immediately. This is why it is important to understand some basic information about traumatic brain injuries if you know someone suffering from one.

Check Out These Important Numbers

When TBI affects a person, many other people are impacted as well. It disrupts family life and makes work virtually impossible. Depending on the individual’s role before the injury, income can be sorely impacted throughout the process. This is why relationships are so important, but they are also the most adversely impacted as a result of the brain injury.

In the United States, TBI is seldom talked about. However, it is estimated that more than 5.3 million people are currently living with a permanent disability that directly results from a traumatic brain injury. To put this into a deeper perspective, nearly 3 million people every in America report suffering from a new traumatic brain injury. While many will fully recover from their injury, many more will be added to the list of permanently disabled.

What Do Those Numbers Reveal?

It is not enough to just talk about how many millions of people encounter the effects of a traumatic brain injury each year. It is disheartening to reveal that an average of 56,000 people die from their brain injuries every year, while more than 282,000 are hospitalized for an extended period of time. This reveals the impact that TBI has on families and relationships across the country. There is often a lengthy recovery and rehabilitation period for those who do survive that everyone involved must endure. This can take a toll on even the strongest of family and friendship oriented bonds that have been formed over the years.

So many people suffer from the severest types of brain injury every decade that they could fill an entire major city. Within that city, more than 30% of the residents would be under the age of 14. It is further estimated that well over 100,000 people in America has such a severe TBI that they are unable to leave the hospital. This speaks to the continuing financial, emotional, and physical toll that the injury has taken.

How to Live with a Traumatic Brain Injury

If there is to be a silver lining behind the numbers just discussed, it would be that the majority of individuals with a traumatic brain injury do recovery. However, the path to that recovery largely depends on the caretakers. It is important to understand how to treat and live with the effects of a traumatic brain injury to build even stronger and more fruitful relationships moving forward. There are so many things that an individual suffering from a brain injury is forced to endure, such as excruciating headaches and loss of eyesight, that the family and friends surrounding the victim may find it difficult to understand. Delving into the research surrounding TBI and learning what individuals are going through is the foundation at which everyone should begin.

Wrap-Up

Now that you understand the numbers behind traumatic brain injuries, it is important to consider your role in the rehabilitation process. It is quite likely that you will encounter a loved one at some point who has a TBI. Understanding what they are going through is the first step towards building the type of relationships necessary that will ultimately make a recovery more manageable and possible.