Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is now the leading injury sustained by United States armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan; 20 percent of all troops have suffered a traumatic brain injury to some degree. TBI is defined as a jolt or blow to the head that disrupts normal brain function. A mild TBI may result in temporary changes in mental status, and severe TBI may result in an extended period of unconsciousness, memory loss, and leave the sufferer with long-term permanent problems.
Traumatic Brain Injury is taken a great deal more seriously now than in the past when commanding officers may have referred to a TBI as shell shock or battle fatigue and ordered their troops to shake it off. Now, soldiers who have suffered a brain injury are likely to be removed from combat because of the danger they pose to themselves and their fellow soldiers as even a mild TBI can result in impaired cognitive functioning and reasoning. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the most common cause of the TBIs suffered by our troops since 2001 have been explosive blasts.
Representative Michael H. Michaud, a Maine democrat, has sponsored legislation to increase treatment and research of traumatic brain injury and calls TBI the “signature wound of this war.” Michaud asserts that there needs to be more understanding of the long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury.
TBI can also be associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); depending on the specifics of the brain trauma, some trauma may lead to PTSD. When TBI and PTSD occur together, they can be very difficult to spot as symptoms such as short attention span, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, and anxiety can overlap making detection of either diagnosis difficult.
