Ideally, a car’s driver and passengers have clicked-on their seat belts, well before another vehicle hits their own car. Still, a sudden and unexpected impact could cause someone’s head to hit some part of the car’s interior. Later, observation of tell-tale symptoms can signal the presence of an unseen injury.
Fatigue is a common symptom of a traumatic brain injury.
That sort of injury slows the rate at which the brain processes information. Because the brain is processing information more slowly, it needs more energy. In the absence of sufficient energy, the affected victim experiences periods of fatigue. At the same time, daytime sleepiness increases the level of the victim’s fatigue.
Why that common symptom often goes unnoticed?
It can persist for many years. Those working or living with the fatigued adult, child or teenager might assume that their tendency to tire quickly was part of their makeup.
It can decrease the victim’s concentration, memory and ability to cope with social interactions. Of course, not everyone feels comfortable in a social situation. Not everyone finds it easy to concentrate on a given subject. Not everyone has a good memory.
It can increase the victim’s irritability, distractibility and anxiety. It might even cause development of a state of depression. Unless those behaviors get repeated frequently, and unless a given behavior is rather exaggerated, it might not raise great concerns. Family members might simply feel that the victim lacks the ability to experience an episode of happiness.
Victims of a traumatic brain injury have more energy in the morning. Depending on a family’s schedule, the predominance of energy in the mornings might satisfy the needs created by that same schedule.
Periodic rest periods diminish the level of fatigue shown by the victim. Again, a schedule that included regular rest periods would work to disguise the existence of a traumatic brain injury.
The fatigue comes and goes. In other words, it is not a constant presence, such as an open wound that heals slowly.
Warning for parents
If a child has been in a car accident, one that created an impact to the head, do not hesitate to schedule a visit with a pediatrician or with the family doctor. Either of those physicians might be able to schedule a meeting with a pediatric neurologist.
A pediatric neurologist could tell whether or not the same child might have suffered a traumatic brain injury. If that condition gets ignored, it could develop into a more serious problem. It might go unnoticed until after the affected victim/child has attained to the age of 18. At that point, time limitations would force the filing of a claim within 2 short years, even if the diagnosis remained unclear. Talk with a Personal Injury Lawyer in Moncton to know more about it.