Paper Example: Life after Traumatic Brain Injury

The human brain functions in an energy-efficient way through a well-functioning and effective physiological process. There are different control functions by the brain and serious blow to an individual can led to a devastating effect to the survivor. Hence, after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) some of the functioning are going to be down-regulated and the physiological processes will fail to operate at full capacity. The following paper will explore a research question on life after traumatic brain injury in relation to its impact on the quality of life of the affected individual.

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A moderate or severe TBI in nature has numerous impact that threatens an person's quality of life (QOL) (Dijkers, 2004). According to Dijkers (2004), a person with TBI will have significantly lower satisfaction with life that can be attributed to a phenomenon referred to as a response shift. Furthermore, in an event of severe TBI, the individual has very lower chances of possible recovery and rehabilitation or restoration to a former self cannot be achieved. Therefore, a blow to an individual's brain will have a devastating impact as the brain control numerous functions. According to Prowe (2010), the impairments that the survivor acquires will be dependent on the exact location and gravity of the injury. Thus, there are primary impairments that arise because of direct brain damage. On the other hand, secondary impairments arise from the consequences that develop from single or more primary impairments.

It is essential to measuring health-related quality of life (HRQL) to quantify TBI's subjective burden to the survivor. Quality of life can be considered as a broad concept and is impacted by varying factors that reflect the individuals how they perceive illness and the effects of treatment on the mental, social and physical aspects of their life (Polinder, Haagsma, & Van Beeck, 2015). Patients that have TBI are reported to scoring lower in their physical, emotional and social functioning. Hence, it is important to have knowledge of the impact and aspects influencing TBI recovery and adaptation that will offer an understanding of the best ways to providing services that are appropriate. Following incidents of TBI, a lot of individuals may experience struggles and symptoms with their each day function. Thus, it will have an impact on the ability of the person to return to their jobs, fulfilling social roles and cause a strain in close relations (Fadyl, Theadom, Channon & McPherson, 2019).

According to Johansson and Ronnback (2014), a brain that is functioning properly will carry out mental activities simultaneously, but after TBI, it will require higher energy levels to dealing with emotional and cognitive situations. To many people, they experience mental fatigue that hinders the willingness to lead an ordinary life that involves working and other social activities. Hence, there is a possibility of TBI causing long-term disability due to neurobehavioral sequelae that are complex, which significantly disrupts the individual's quality of life (Khan, Baguley, & Cameron, 2003). Due to the decline in the survivor's quality of life, there is a need for holistic rehabilitation to manage a person's TBI.

As a result of reduced quality of life to individuals suffering from TBI due to problem-solving deficits and coping resources, individuals usually develop clinical depression. According to Niemeier, Grafton, and Chilakamarri (2015), an individual will face accompanying post-TBI issues such as sleep disturbance, agitation, impulsivity and anxiety. Subsequently, TBI survivors require life-long and long term assistance. The long-term requirements of caregivers to an individual with TBI are not met including information and support (Dillahunt-Aspillaga, Ehlke, & Thor, 2013). Therefore, individuals lacking support and adequate services offered by caregivers will place them at increased risk of frustration, depression and anxiety that tremendously lowers their QOL.

Massive portions of people with TBI develop cognitive, physical and emotional decline in long-term resulting in a huge effect on the daily function level and involvement in the society (Andelic, Lovstad, and Roe, 2019). Hence, across injury severity full-spectrum and persistence disability, it will impact individuals' community reintegration years following the injury. The chances of an individual to suffer from disability rises with TBI severity, which will lower the quality of their life. Survivors of TBI return to work at a relatively lower rate, while those that had the previous job mostly faces difficulties, which raises concerns about their employment stability (Ruet, Bayen, Jourdan, & Vallat-Azouvi, 2019). Also, it lowers their sense to belong in the society as they view themselves out of place that significantly reduces their QOL.

Conclusion

In conclusion, TBI leads to a significant reduction in the QOI for survivors after the incident. Therefore, individuals with a lower quality of life will face clinical depression, which slows down their rehabilitation process. Subsequently, individuals will have a slowed ability in processing and understanding information. Hence, depending on the injury severity, TBI will pose lasting impact quality of life to individuals of all ages by impairing their decision making, concentration, memory, which translates to emotional problems that hinder ability recover socially, mentally or physically.

References

Andelic, N., Lovstad, M., and Roe, C., (2019). Editorial: Impact of Traumatic Brain Injuries on Participation in Daily Life and Work: Recent Research and Future Directions. Front. Neurol. 10:1153. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2019.01153

Dijkers, M. P. (2004). Quality of life after traumatic brain injury: a review of research approaches and findings. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 85, 21-35.

Dillahunt-Aspillaga, C., Ehlke, S., & Thor, J. (2013). Traumatic brain injury: unmet support needs of caregivers and families in Florida. PLoS One, 8(12).

Fadyl, J. K., Theadom, A., Channon, A., & McPherson, K. M. (2019). Recovery and adaptation after traumatic brain injury in New Zealand: Longitudinal qualitative findings over the first two years. Neuropsychological rehabilitation, 29(7), 1095-1112.

Johansson, B., & Ronnback, L. (2014). Long-lasting mental fatigue after traumatic brain injury-a major problem most often neglected diagnostic criteria, assessment, relation to emotional and cognitive problems, cellular background, and aspects on treatment. In Traumatic brain injury. IntechOpen.

Khan, F., Baguley, I. J., & Cameron, I. D. (2003). Rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury. Medical Journal of Australia, 178(6), 290-295.

Niemeier, J. P., Grafton, L. M., & Chilakamarri, T. (2015). Treating Persons With Traumatic Brain Injury History and Updates. North Carolina medical journal, 76(2), 105-110.

Polinder, S., Haagsma, J. A., & Van Beeck, E. F. (2015). Health-related quality of life after TBI: a systematic review of study design, instruments, measurement properties, and outcome. Population health metrics, 13(1), 4.

Prowe, G. (2010). Life with a brain injury: Preparing yourself and your family. Brainline. Retrieved from: https://www.brainline.org/article/life-brain-injury-preparing-yourself-and-your-family.

Ruet, A., Bayen, E., Jourdan, C., & Vallat-Azouvi, C. (2019). A detailed overview of long-term outcomes in severe traumatic brain injury eight years post-injury. Frontiers in neurology, 10, 120.