QUESTION:

My 14-year-old son sustained a serious brain injury in a car crash a little over a year ago. He was in a coma for a couple of weeks, but he made a remarkable recovery and is back in school. I am concerned about his behavior, specifically some pretty dramatic mood swings he has exhibited since the injury. Usually he seems depressed, and he used to be a basically happy, even-tempered kid. Could this be due to the brain injury? Is it possible that he is still emotionally upset by the trauma of the accident? To what degree could his erratic behavior be attributed to his age?

QUESTION:

My 19-year-old son sustained a severe brain injury when he was in elementary school. He recovered well enough to go back to school with additional help from tutors and the school counselor. Seemingly out of the blue, when he was in high school, my son began to exhibit irrational behavior, including paranoid delusions. He had never behaved this way in his life, but now he requires the care of a psychiatrist. Is it possible that the brain injury caused his psychiatric problems? If so, what specifically is the connection between brain injury and psychiatric illnesses?

QUESTION:

Since my brain injury a year ago, I have had many problems that will not go away: depression, memory loss, difficulty expressing myself, and an inability to keep up at my job. Since losing my job for poor performance, I have consulted a counselor, a psychiatrist, and my general practitioner. The GP and counselor both say that my problems are psychiatric, and the psychiatrist has me on Prozac. However, I am no better. How can I get the help I need? I am looking for someone who will at least believe that my problems are not imaginary.

QUESTION:

I am a case manager working with a person who sustained a severe brain injury. My client is also working with a drug/alcohol counselor, a social worker, and an attorney. I have talked with these other professionals and we all agree that our client’s progress is impeded by his behavioral difficulties (e.g., lack of follow-through, emotional highs and lows, lack of insight). How can we help this person make the most of the services we have to offer?

QUESTION:

Since his injury, my son lacks sexual inhibition to an embarrassing degree. He makes graphic sexually-oriented remarks to anyone, and he is constantly touching females he barely knows (holding hands, grabbing at various body parts). How should we, his family, address this? Should some type of medical professional be involved?

QUESTION:

Is a person more likely to develop psychiatric dysfunction after a traumatic brain injury? Are there certain psychiatric illnesses that show up more often than others in the population of brain injury survivors?

QUESTION:

What is emotional lability? Are there prescription drugs to treat it?

QUESTION:

QUESTION:

I have heard that an injury to the frontal lobe of the brain can result in significant personality changes. Why does this happen? Does the injured person ever return to normal?

QUESTION:

A friend of mine exhibits behavior problems since his brain injury, and I would like to help. I understand that there may be "behavior management programs" that could address his specific problems. If so, how would I go about finding such a program, and what should I expect from the program?