Coping with traumatic brain injury: Existential challenges and managing hope

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is among the most challenging and potentially catastrophic of disabling conditions. The centrality of the brain for the effective production and regulation of essentially every critical human attribute, faculty, and capacity contributes to the exquisite psychosocial vulnerability of individuals who sustain TBI. Following TBI, the individual often finds that the very personal skills and resources necessary to cope with disability are the ones most undermined by their injury. Further, the prevalence of this disabling condition is almost staggering in proportion, yet it may be one of the most unrecognized disabling conditions to the general public, as it is often "invisible" to the uninformed observer. Ironically, because of the stealth quality of this disability, society is dreadfully unaware of the epidemic proportions of the problem. If a new contagious disease or cancer was discovered that occurred with the frequency and life-disrupting potential of TBI, it would be considered a national emergency, warranting huge expenditure for prevention and treatment. Yet expenditures for research into TBI prevention and treatment lag far behind other illnesses and disabilities, largely because of the public's lack of awareness, and also because survivors of brain injury are infrequently capable of being effective advocates for their own cause, secondary to the nature of the disabling consequences arising from TBI. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. All rights reserved.