How can a TBI impact your emotional stability?

Head injuries can cause surprising issues in many different ways. For example, while many know that a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause memory loss issues, did you know it can also cause problems with emotional stability?

But in what ways is a person’s emotional stability affected? And how can you alter the impact or handle the aftermath through the healing?

Difficulties with impulse management

Medline Plus looks at traumatic brain injuries. These injuries are a result of hard damage to the head and brain, which may even lead to swelling and bruising of the brain itself. Depending on the area of the brain that suffers from damage, it can affect different aspects of a person’s health, such as their speech, motor skills and more.

It can even affect a victim’s emotional stability. For example, hits to the frontal lobe often impact the victim’s ability to control their impulses, because that area of the brain monitors impulse control. This can lead to a victim acting or speaking in ways they normally would not. They may also lash out at others, seemingly unable to control their own temper.

Coping with stressors

On top of that, it is often much harder for TBI victims to cope with stressors of any kind. A person who was once able to handle an incredibly stressful work environment might suddenly become someone who can barely handle the average stressors of daily life.

These changes often seem sudden and can even shift from day to day, which makes a person seem incredibly emotionally unstable. Though this will often change and stabilize over the course of the healing process, it is quite hard to deal with on the offset.