According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 1.4 million U.S. people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year; of those, 50,000 die and more than 200,000 end up in the hospital. The TBI survivors face a lifetime of physical, cognitive and emotional setbacks. The overall impact of their injuries can make recovery and rehabilitation difficult.
Researchers have long suspected that there is a link between TBI and depression. Now, doctors at the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) are studying that potential link. Researchers hope to build upon smaller scale research, which suggests that TBI patients have increased rates of aggression and anxiety, in addition to more suicide attempts.
So far, the NCMRR study show that rates of depression are significantly higher among those who have experienced TBI than among those who have not experienced TBI or the general population. This study, the first large-scale study of closely and routinely followed TBI patients, showed that the rate of depression among TBI survivors was nearly 8 times that of the general population. In the study, 53.1 percent of the participants reported depressions, compared to 6.7 percent in the general population.
Of note in the study is that doctors previously thought that TBI patients were too affected within the first six months after injury to allow for any detection of depression. However, about half of those with depression were identified at three months post injury in the study.
Harrell & Nowak, L.L.C. – New Orleans injury attorneys