You can sustain a traumatic brain injury in a car accident or another type of accident when you experience a sudden jolt or blow to your head. Brain injuries are common, and they result in many deaths every year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2019, 61,000 people in the U.S. died from complications related to a brain injury. TBIs can also have other effects, and you may have a brain injury if you experience certain physical, cognitive and emotional symptoms.
Physical symptoms
After a car accident, you may feel bothered by loud noises and bright lights. You may also have recurrent headaches, feel more tired than usual and experience dizziness and balance problems if you have a brain injury.
Cognitive symptoms
You may have a hard time concentrating and remembering things if you sustain a TBI in an accident. Other cognitive symptoms include problems with your short- and long-term memory, issues thinking clearly and feeling more slowed down than usual.
Social & emotional symptoms
If you have a TBI, you may feel unusually anxious and nervous while you recover from the accident. You may also feel more irritable and angrier than normal and feel more emotional in general.
The symptoms of a brain injury vary from person to person, so you may only experience a few of these cognitive, physical and social symptoms. Additionally, some of these symptoms may show up right away after the accident, while others may take days or even weeks to develop.
