You can sustain a concussion in several different ways. You might have to deal with one from a car accident. You might slip and fall while at home, at work, or while walking down the street.
You could take a big hit while playing amateur football, or something could fall on you. Any time you receive a head blow, you could sustain a concussion, and it can change your life in multiple ways.
Let’s look at six of the ways a concussion can impact your day-to-day life.
Depression
As attorney Michael T. Gibson notes, “A concussion—often referred to as a “mild” traumatic brain injury—is a common injury to suffer, particularly in car accidents.” If a car accident caused your concussion, you might file a personal injury lawsuit. You can do so if:
- It was the other driver’s fault
- Their insurance payout does not cover your medical bills, or your pain and suffering
After the concussion, though, you might feel depressed, regardless of whether you can collect a judgment or not. Since doctors consider concussions to be brain injuries, your personality can change from a severe one. If this was not your first concussion, that makes such a change even more likely.
You might not feel as joyful as you used to. You might struggle just to get out of bed in the morning. If so, you may have to seek out a therapist to get some professional help.
Short-Term Memory Loss
You might also deal with short-term memory loss following a concussion. This usually goes away on its own after a while. If you have long-term memory loss, this indicates a more severe brain injury, rather than a “mild” concussion.
If you experience short-term memory loss:
- You might not remember appointments
- You may go into a room and forget why you went in there
You could also go to a grocery store, hardware store, pet store, etc., and forget why you came. You might find yourself standing there scratching your head, trying to remember what you needed.
This can frustrate you considerably. Concussion victims talk about trying to recall things like what they had for breakfast or what time they were supposed to pick the kids up from soccer practice.
These problems are rarely permanent, but while they’re happening, you might want to write down what you have to do that day. You can use your smartphone’s “Notes” feature and refer back to it when you need to.
Surprising Emotions
Following a head injury like a concussion, surprising emotions might also hit you from time to time. Again, you’ve hurt your brain, and part of the brain controls emotion.
You might find yourself tearing up watching a sappy TV commercial or when a love song comes on the radio. You may find something funny, but you know it’s inappropriate to laugh. You may laugh at that moment anyway, even when mixed company surrounds you.
You can’t control yourself as well for a while. It’s perhaps not the worst thing in the world, but it might embarrass you. If you’re usually a stoic individual who keeps yourself tightly under control, this might be the change that’s toughest on you.
Vomiting or Nausea
After your concussion, you might vomit or experience nausea. Perhaps you can’t keep food down for a while. Even its smell might trigger another episode.
Luckily, this is one of the concussion symptoms that usually goes away faster than most of the others. You might deal with it just after the concussion, but it shouldn’t trouble you for more than a day or two at most.
If this issue continues, you should speak to a doctor without delay. Continued nausea or vomiting could mean there’s a more serious injury than what medical science first detected.
Anger
You might think you’re a person who usually stays on an even keel. You don’t get angry often, and when you do, you can control it without shouting or even raising your voice.
Much like laughing, crying, and showing other emotions, you may have difficulty keeping up your usual stoicism after a concussion. If your spouse or child does something you don’t like, you might snap at them, where before you’d respond to the situation calmly.
They might resent you for this, but hopefully, they’ll understand that you’re not yourself. Like most of these other symptoms, it won’t last forever. You need to try very hard to control yourself so you don’t say something you’ll regret later when you have recovered fully.
Confusion
For some days after the concussion, you also may feel generally confused. There are many forms this can take.
You may not be able to locate a friend’s house if you’re driving, despite knowing where it is. You may not be able to handle simple work assignments.
Because of these sorts of problems, it’s often best not to work for at least a few days after the concussion. You shouldn’t drive, either.
You can take public transportation if you need to go somewhere, or someone else can drive you. You should also contact your work and tell them about the injury and that you need some recovery time. If they’re skeptical, you can always get a doctor’s note confirming your injury.
Headaches
One final thing you might go through is frequent headaches for days or even weeks after the concussion. When you occur, they’re a lot like migraines.
You can drape a cold compress over your forehead and lie down in a dark room. Try to keep the kids away or any other family members until the pain subsides.
With less severe concussions, you probably won’t have to deal with any of this for very long. If it’s a more serious concussion, these symptoms might last longer.
If you have had concussions before, make sure to tell your doctor about that. They’ll want to run plenty of tests to determine if you have more severe brain damage. Multiple concussions make CTE more likely.
