On Monday, we discussed the suicide of former National Football League (NFL) linebacker Junior Seau, but the video above features a military veteran named John discussing some of the challenges he faced after suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a helicopter crash during his time in the United States Navy. As we mentioned on Monday, severe head injuries are not limited solely to professional football players, as 1.7 million Americans sustain a TBI every year. More than half of these injuries are the result of falls or automobile accidents. The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) says that the depression following TBI “compounds many of the challenges that individuals with TBI typically face after injury.” Like John in the video, many TBI victims turn to behaviors that maintain their depression, such as abusing drugs or alcohol. The BIAA says that before victims can be helped, the first step is…
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Orlando Personal Injury Law BLOG
TBI Damage May Be Permanent, But Depression is Not
May 18th, 2012When TBIs Happen, Depression Often Results
May 14th, 2012Following the death of former National Football League (NFL) linebacker Junior Seau from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on May 2, 2012, the video above is an interview the Associated Press conducted with Miami neurosurgeon Walter Bradley. While he says that there is not a “clear link between repeated concussions and depression,” Bradley does say how the repeated blows to the head in football tears nerve fibers and accumulates over time. As a result, repeated concussions cause neurological problems and, over time, those problems can cause a person to become depressed. Despite technological advances made in the helmets designed to protect football players, Bradley notes that the helmet cannot prevent the brain from “rocking around in the skull.” He says how “maybe we need to rethink some of these games,” but recognizes that may be difficult considering the number of spectators and amount of money involved makes that easier said than…
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Honor Older Americans By Taking a More Active Role in Their Welfare
May 11th, 2012On Monday, we discussed how May is Older Americans Month and began using the campaign as an opportunity to talk about nursing home abuse and neglect. The video above is fairly humorous advertisement for an assisted living home, but elder abuse and neglect is a problem that often occurs out of sight and, thus, stays out of most minds. The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) says that the best available estimates indicate that approximately 700,000 to 3.5 million older Americans are abused, neglect, or exploited each year. The most recent national statistics for Adult Protective Services (APS) programs indicate that there were approximately 381,430 reports of elder abuse, neglect or exploitation to APS across the country in 2003, but the NCEA notes that “even when suspicions are reported, the outcomes of the cases are difficult to track.” According to the NCEA, the older population in America is continuing to…
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