Source: time.com | Repost Duerson Fund 8/7/2023 –
The lifelong consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be severe, but until the last decade, they received little attention from doctors treating military veterans. According to the Department of Defense, more than 458,000 service members were diagnosed with a TBI from 2000 to 2022, though evolving diagnostic standards likely mean that the number is higher.
TBI is the result of serious or repeated hits to the head, at any level that causes brain damage. Though it’s a physical injury, the consequences of suffering this type of head trauma are most often mental and emotional. For veterans in particular, this burden can lead to behavior like substance abuse and self-harm. Research on excess death among veterans has identified a dangerous relationship between TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder, with suicidal ideation and behaviors appearing with notable frequency in those with both conditions. A new study further spells out the risks for veterans with brain injuries by taking all lifelong mental-health diagnoses into account, mapping for the first time on a large scale how brain injury can play an indirect role in suicide as well.
“We’re really trying to address people’s challenges from a very non-stigmatized, whole-human perspective,” says Lisa Brenner, director of the Department of Veterans Affairs-affiliated Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center and the lead author of the study.