Emotional Problems after Mild Brain Injury:
The Role of Attentional, Fatigue and Memory Problems in Emotional Issues
One of the most powerful emotional problems after mild brain injury is frustration – frustration that things are now so hard, that used to be so easy. The emotional cascade that can come from the simple inability to complete a task that once was routine can reach epic proportions. And what of memory? The only thing perhaps more frustrating than losing something, is getting lost. Likewise, irritability is a natural and expected consequence of a tired, overloaded mind. Imagine being an extremely organized person before suffering a brain injury and then suddenly you can not keep track of things as simple as your watch. This adds to frustration which in turn causes an emotional problems after mild brain injury reaction.
Headaches With Brain Injury
Further contributing to the emotional volatility in a mind struggling to mirror the life it had pre-morbid, is the physical problems that often come with these injuries. Headache will make a person ornery and headache is one of the most common symptoms post concussion. See the discussion of headache later on. Less common but more dangerous is the constellation of seizure type disorders that may result in seemingly irrational swings of mood. These may be the direct result of frontal lobe seizures.
Flat Personality Affect with Brain Injury
Another significant mood problem is the flat personality affect, wherein the person has seemingly no personality. Nothing seems to phase them, except when they lose their temper. Fatigue may be the chief culprit here, but hard to pinpoint organic damage may be more responsible than medical personnel would anticipate. Ultimately, depression is the most talked about, and perhaps the most dangerous emotional sequelae of the subtle brain injury.
Depression Has Many Elements