9.Psychosocial Effects of Brain Injury
J. David Seaton
Pages: 76-85
Philosopher William James once wrote that ‘no more fiendish punishment could be devised than that one should be turned loose in society and remain absolutely unnoticed by all its members.’ It is doubtful that he was referring to someone with a brain injury when made this statement in the 1890s; even so, it well describes the struggle many brain-injured individuals experience in trying to regain a meaningful life. Until recent years it was usually the individual’s physical limitations that were seen as the main obstacle preventing reintegration into the community. It is now recognized that psychosocial deficits present the greatest...
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10.Children and Adolescents with Brain Injury
Marilyn Unger
Pages: 86-100
This chapter will briefly review some important information about children and adolescents with brain injury and the process of coping with their rehabilitation. Brain trauma is the leading cause of death in children and the most common cause of acquired disability. Approximately 1 in 500 children per year in the United States sustain a brain injury that results in a change in level of consciousness, or a physical abnormality of the brain, or both. Before the 1960s most children died after a serious traumatic brain injury (TBI). In Canada and the United States, as well as in other countries, advances...
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11.Couple Issues After Brain Injury
Patrick Hirschi, Claudia Berwald, Rick Brown
Pages: 101-110
Brain injury is not an isolated incident in one person’s life. It’s a life-transforming event that affects not only the injured person, but that person’s family, friends, and workmates. Everyone is a survivor. Possibly, the most profound impact is on the spousal union. This impact varies in nature and intensity, depending on where the two people are in their life as a partnership, but it is always powerful. Young couples without children are spared some of the challenges that couples with young children must face. Couples whose children have left home face some different issues as well.
The relationship that...
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12.Brain Injury and the Family System
Carroll O. David
Pages: 111-125
Traumatic brain injury changes the survivor’s view of both the self and the world. The effects on the family are equally great. For both the survivor and the family, recovery is a long process that lasts for years – and for many, a lifetime.
More often than not, survivors will deny the effects the injury is having on their behaviour, thus making it difficult for the family to respond in helpful ways.
Over time, both the family and the survivor can change their expectations to fit what is possible; they can find new ways to relate, and learn how to make...
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13.Legal Issues Following Brain Injury
R. Brian Webster
Pages: 126-143
This is an introduction to legal issues, some or all of which will likely face survivors of traumatic brain injury or their families. I raise these issues and discuss them briefly with the expectation that readers will perhapsnote themon first reading and then consider them again as the need arises. Discussion of these issues could fill a textbook by itself, so obviously this is just an introduction – something to make you aware when the issues require decisions or actions about which you must consult a lawyer. I can’t overstate the importance of this principle. This is at most...
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14.Leisure and Recreation
Anne Sulzberger, Charles Killingsworth
Pages: 144-154
Leisure plays a vital regenerative role in our lives. By participating in leisure or recreation, we express our individuality – social, physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual. The activities we pursue reflect our personal values and beliefs; for example, an individual who enjoys being physically active will express this through activities such as sports, walking, and exercise. These pursuits may or may not involve others, depending on the personality and needs of the individual. Awareness and experience of leisure directly affects quality of life. Few of us find fulfillment solely from our work. More typically, work is what allows us to pursue...
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15.The Family as Caregiver
Sonia Acorn
Pages: 155-162
No longer are health professionals the only providers of care. Today, with an increase in the number of people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, and the growing number of elderly, many people find themselves in the role of ‘caregiver.’ This is evident in the vital role that family caregivers play in providing care to survivors of brain injury. However, those who provide care to a family member should be aware of the long-term effects that caregiving has on their own health. It is important for them to take steps to safeguard their own physical and emotional well-being, while providing much-needed...
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16.A Second Look
Charles G. Ottewell
Pages: 163-168
This entry to my journal is a follow-up to chapter 3; it was written when I was twenty-seven years old, ten years after my brain injury. I wrote this entry to try and help explain the continuous fight and effort I have and still am battling. I hope this chapter will help whoever reads it to make their transition more understandable as they continue to improve from whatever head injury, brain injury they are recuperating from.
Life is still somewhat of a struggle for me. I still have many of the samefrustrationswhich I encountered years ago such as...