How Are Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms Evaluated?
How to understand and evaluate the causes of emotional, behavioral, and cognitive problems resulting from Traumatic Brain Injury

Injury occurs to a person with a particular
- physical status
- life experiences
- coping style
- relationships with individuals and organizations
dramatically different results.
For example, how do we understand why a brain-injured person has memory problems, distractability, impulse control problems, and depression?
Consider these potential causes and contributing factors:
Consider these pre-injury factors:
Evaluation of symptoms and problems resulting from brain injury may include:
Consider these potential causes and contributing factors:
- Brain damage from the impact.
- Bleeding in the brain.
- Increased pressure in the brain.
- Post-traumatic seizure disorder.
- Pain.
- Medication effects.
- Sleep disturbance.
- Impaired hearing, vision, balance.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD.)
- Anxiety, depression, unconscious psychological issues (psychological reaction to trauma and impairments.)
- Depression caused directly by brain damage.
- Metabolic and hormonal abnormalities.
- Truthfulness of reporting.
Consider these pre-injury factors:
- Age.
- Personality style.
- Developmental stage.
- Physical conditions.
- Mental health conditions.
- Physical health at the time of injury.
- Mental state at the time of injury.
- Use of alcohol and illicit substances.
- Emotional stressors.
- Financial stressors.
- Family and social support.
Evaluation of symptoms and problems resulting from brain injury may include:
- Lab tests to rule out anemia, low thyroid hormone, growth hormone deficiency, pituitary insufficiency.
- Imaging (CT, MRI) (e.g., rule out bleeding in the brain, diffuse axonal injury, white matter disturbance.)
- EEG to rule out post-traumatic seizures.
- Headache and other Pain evaluation.
- Vision, hearing, and balance evaluation.
- Sleep evaluation to rule out sleep disorder.
- Review of medications to rule out adverse effects and interactions.
- Neuropsychological testing to assess cognitive strengths and weaknesses, as well as truthfulness.
- Psychological and Psychiatric evaluation to assess for psychological reaction to injury, unconscious psychological reactions, and psychiatric conditions.
- Interviews with family, friends, co-workers, and employers.
- Case manager evaluation of brain injury survivor and family in the home.