Brain Injury Effects And Practical Advice

(Typical settlement amount - up to £100,000+)

In the mid-nineteenth century, Phineas Gage was an unremarkable railway laborer. He achieved fame, however, following a freak accident that left him something of a household name. According to witnesses, Mr. Gage was using a railway spike to press gunpowder deep into a crevice when the half-prepared charge suddenly exploded.  The explosion acted like the charge in a cannon and fired the spike upwards. The spike entered Mr. Gage’s head just under his ear, tore through the frontal portion of his brain, and emerged through the top of his head. Remarkably, he survived the accident and continued to work for the railway – but he was not the same person. Mr. Gage, once mild-mannered and well-liked, became argumentative and prone to violence, was no longer active in the Church, and began to drink immoderately.

Today, Phineas Gage is known as the first well-documented example of the consequences of a severe brain injury, but his story is not the rarity that it once was. Due to an ever growing variety of dangerous activities, coupled with new advances in medicine, treatment and rehabilitation, an increasing number of people survive accidents as serious – if not as colourful – as Mr. Gage’s.

Despite these advances in medical science, however, brain injuries remain poorly understood. While even doctors cannot predict how an injury may affect a person’s ability to function, the unfortunate reality is that front-line service providers often have very little insight into the effects of injury, or how best to deal with such individuals.  This article is designed to be read by any service provider who may encounter individuals with brain injuries in their line of work.  In particular, because brain injuries can result in poor insight and understanding of consequences, police officers, lawyers and other members of the justice system may deal with a disproportionate number of such individuals – and often receive inadequate training to do so.

Despite the uncertain and often misunderstood nature of such injuries, there are a number of consistencies in the effects of head injuries on the brain, and doctors generally agree that there is a common pool of symptoms and consistent changes in behavior that result. This consistency is particularly evident were there is damage to the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.