[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Have you ever known anyone who was mentally changed after head trauma? (Page 2 of 4)
My son.
He was an academic genius, literally, with an identic memory, and probably the smartest person I have ever known. He was 16 when he wrecked his car and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. He is now 18, a Senior in High School, works two jobs, and has recovered remarkably well, but struggles with some subjects now. He is not the same person he was before. Before, he was very introverted. Now, he's an extrovert. He is also argumentative, angry, and aggressive, and his friends have abandoned him. He and I have always been extremely close, but now I, and only I, am the object of his aggression. I am very sad for him, and I would trade places with him, or give every material possession I have, if it meant he would make a full recovery. I AM THANKFUL TO GOD FOR SPARING HIS LIFE, REGARDLESS. |
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For me at 17 lost control and ran my 78 VW Scirraco off a 50 foot bank, flipped 3 times and hit a tree.
Was in intensive care and unconscious for 4 days from a contusion and hematoma to the brain. 3 other TBIs from parachute jumps, I was seeing stars for a few mins for each one. I walked away from all but one. Medic walked me off the DZ and they put me on 24 hour quarters. Truck got hit with a 200lb VBIED in Pasab Afghanistan, stuck in a bed for a week, after that I was back in the fight. I feel ok, short term memory isn't great at times, but I live a normal life. I keep info on my phone and implemnted COAs and reminders to help me remember things. I have portions of my life I will no longer remember, luckily the wife understands and tells me the things I no longer remember. Biggest problem is sometimes my brain just stops, I guess what ever processes info is jacked up, never lasts for more than a min or so. Could just be old age. I am pretty lucky considering all the bumps I have had. |
| A neighbor was working and got hit in the head with a headache ball on a crane. Cracked his skull and was in the hospital for a while. Got addicted to Oxycontin; went through several drug rehab. When talking to him it's like he drifts off sometimes; other times he can hold an intelligent conversation. Nice guy and would do anything to help you. But can't seem to hold a decent job. Always screwing up; DWI; wrecking vehicles; probably been in jail at least 3 times over the last 2 years. Misses court dates. In "therapy" supposedly. |
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One that stands way out.
Kid I went to middle school was a general troublemaker and bully. Skipped class, wised off to teachers, hung out with high schoolers outside of school and apparently drank and smoked a lot of pot. One Friday night he was in the back of a car driven by a high school friend with another one in the front passenger seat. They were speeding and drunk and the car hit a massive tree. Two in the front were killed and he was in the hospital for some time. He eventually came back to school and was profoundly mentally limited. I had an art class where we sat at group tables. He was at mine and I would have to help him. He was like a small child. It was quite the stark contrast. |
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My father, he fell and hit the back of his head.
He was on blood thinners and they basically said they couldn't risk opening his head up. He was out of it for about a week. Never fully came back as in he couldn't walk, became very self-centered and down right mean sometimes. I know part of it was the helplessness of being in a wheelchair but therapists told him he had a good chance of walking again if he would try. He never did and nearly wrecked my Mom's health before he passed away. He passed away from his own stubbornness because he refused to sleep in a bed, he got bad sores on his legs and an blood infection. I love him and forgive him but it was so sad seeing the change in him.... In the Army retired as a Master Sargent after 22 years...
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| A friend of mine from high school had a bicycle wreck in college. He was a mess. Couldn't walk. Could barely talk. His high school girlfriend sat with him in the hospital once they got him back home. I remember going to see him, and she was there with him. Over the first couple years, he got a little better. Then he kept getting better. Over the course of 10 plus years, he pretty much fully recovered. His girl stuck with him, and they are still married. Amazing story. |
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My sister-in-laws brother was a really nice guy, smart as hell, great wife, making a good living in Seattle area. He got tagged by a car riding his bike to work one day (He was a physical therapist IIRC). Spent a long time in the hospital with severe brain trama. First indications from the hospital was that he was not going to survive. He did survive - but he is not the same person.
He has very poor people skills now, kind of cold and emotionless. He can't hold a job of any kind. He has very bad memory - his older sister stashed a gps locator in his car because he has a habit of driving somewhere, like McDonalds, and then forgetting he has his car and walks home. Then he has no idea where his car is. Last fall he drove up an old forest road in the late fall, no real reason just went for a drive. Snow on the ground, a bit cold, storm blowing in. Of course he got his car stuck. No cell service of course. So he walked out - instead of following the road out he went cross country through the mountains, the wrong direction by about 180 degrees. It took him hours at night to find his way down the mountain and to a road - in jeans, tee shirt and tennis shoes. He's lucky he made it. |
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I work with a guy in his mid 40's. He is mentally slow. He is kind of a laborer or gopher in our shop. He can do simple tasks. Big guy. Strong as hell. I've been working with him a while and figured he was born that way. Found out today he was in a bad vehicle wreck when he was in his early 20s. Suffered head trauma. Also lost his teeth. I guess he has never been the same since. He lives on his own but can't drive. Only allowed to work 5 hours a day. His paychecks go to someone else who pays his bills. He is The nicest and friendliest guy. But he comes up with stories about how he owns over 70 trucks, half dozen 18 wheelers... He is the first person, that I knew of, who was the way he was because of a trauma. Mentally, not physically. I imagine I've encountered more but never realized it. I realized today that the times I have encountered people with mental disorders, I always assumed they were born that way. How dumb of me. Just curious if any of you have had similar instances meeting people who have been mentally changed due to a head trauma or tbi. BTW, our company does employ people with disabilities, there is him and a guy missing a leg. I was told "it looks good to the government". Yes. Many times. |
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A couple. Friend in high school hit by a train while in his car. Functions at a high level, has a job, but was very different after and a little slow.
Wife has a friend who's brother was in a very bad wreck. I didn't know him before the accident, but she says his entire personality changed. Likes different music, different interests, absolutely not at all the same person. Doesn't seem slow, just completely different. She says it feels like he died because he is not at all the same. |
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Maybe. Probably playing a role in my current circumstances.
I FOIA'd my records from VA a couple months ago. Neurologist who examined me and reviewed my service medical records in 2007 wrote that the headaches I have were, without a doubt l, due to post concussion syndrome. I swear, no kidding, in 2007 I walked out of that examination thinking he told me I was just getting them because of stress. I thought I had TBI. My (mis)understanding after that exam was that I didn't. They service connected me for headaches, but not for post concussion syndrome. They never mentioned it in my ratng and no one at VA Medical center has ever said anything to me anout t. Neurologist wrote in the notes that I should get TBI screened and should be scheduled for follow up care. Never happened. For years since that exam, I thought it was in my head and was a somatic complaint due to anxiety or was mental fog due to SSRI. I was showing headaches, cognitive, memory impairment and concentration issues back then. 07. I guess I just associated them with more recent events because those symptoms have gotten much worse since '15. I got lost back in Nvember (I think) driving home on a road I've been driving reguarly since 1986. Scared the shit out of me. I started seeing a (private) specialist in Feb. I did the FOIA that included the 2007 VA Neurologist's opinion, which I completely misremembered. I have a lot better handle on things (at least my doctor does) but I went untreated and improperly medicated (SSRI is probably the worst thing a person with my cognitive symptoms can be perscribed). It was a relief, in a weird way, to have learned the 2007 post concussion syndrome diagnosis, because I thought (was scared that) my perceived cognitive symptoms were my imagination. |
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Can't discuss head trauma and personality change without mentioning Phineas Gage...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage 
This Billy Badass took a 13lb, 1.25" diameter iron rod completely through the head, and still managed to walk himself to the oxcart which hauled him back to town. |
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Had a friend when I was younger who had taken a lawn dart in the head as a child - pierced his skull and damaged part of his brain which he claimed had to be removed. He had a huge scar and he was otherwise normal but didn't catch many social cues and had absolutely no sense of humor, as in, it simply didn't exist. He didn't get any jokes and he didn't make them. He was also an extreme risk taker and was always getting into trouble in high school.
Wife's cousin also had a complete temporary personality change for several months after a concussion playing high school soccer. Became basically bipolar for some time, would have severe mood swings and flip out on people. Gradually faded away and she returned to normal. |
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The son of a friend tried to hang himself in his 20's. He functions on the level of a 12-year-old. He can take care of himself, eating, washing, etc.. But can't make sense of complicated issues, can't drive, makes impulsive decisions that get him in trouble. |
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We had a criminal I dealt with for many years early in my career.
He'd been working in a steel scrap yard and took a chunk of metal to his head. He had some impulse control issues that he always blamed on the head injury. Not sure how much of it was BS, but over time I was pretty sure that he was being honest about its effects on him. |
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When I was a kid I knew someone who was hit by a car while riding his bike. About 10 YO.
The talk was that he bit off his tongue and they sewed it back on. He never fully recovered from the TBA but still stayed in school, being a bit . . . slow. Small world. He now lives next door to my Dad in a retirement community with his elderly mother. Lifelong bachelor. We chat occasionally. He has never worsened or improved through the years. |
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My cousin had his blood sugar crash on the highway and hit a telephone pole so hard the witnesses said the truck stood up on the tailgate.
People in public think he's really drunk at first, but if they see him for more than 5 minutes they realize he's not right. He says wildly inappropriate things to everyone, usually revolving around good memories, like asking everyone if they've ever had sex in a hot tub. Everyone, including the preacher. He's also very destructive without realizing it. His short-term memory lasts about a minute, so he'll ask you the same awkward question all night. |
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3 different ones come to mind
- the first was when I was in 7-8th grade. 3 students were smoking in the HS gym where my mom taught. Janitor smelled the smoke and tried to catch them. 2 of the kids were 'veterans', and had an escape route up the back and across the rafters above the drop ceiling. The 3rd kid was trying it for his first time to 'be cool' (I'd met him before the accident. 1 of the 3 top students in his grade). He fell. I met him after the accident. He went from being a top student to no more than 3 y/o IQ - 2nd was a guy I knew in college. Used to go riding mountain bikes once in a while. I heard about the accident where he hit a tree. He came back to school after he recovered from the physical injuries, but the TBI made it impossible to keep up and he dropped out. - 3rd guy was in a wheelchair and already impaired when I first met him. He had a sign with words and letters that he used to point to (with difficulty) to communicate. It was only later that I learned that he'd been in an accident. The TBI took away his motor skills and ability to talk, but apparently, his cognition was mostly unaffected (yes, kinda like Stephen Hawking, but with 1/3rd the IQ). It must be rough, and incredibly frustrating to know what you used to be able to do, and stuck in that situation, unable to even communicate easily, with most people assuming you're slow/mentally handicapped when you really aren't. |
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Yes. Guy I know slipped and fell many years ago. Cracked his head open on a concrete floor.
He's... well... slow. Not a smart man, and the decision making isn't there. Not a vegetable or anything, but not all there. I never knew him before, but from those who did, he was a fairly sharp guy prior to the accident. |
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Quoted:
My son.
He was an academic genius, literally, with an identic memory, and probably the smartest person I have ever known. He was 16 when he wrecked his car and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. He is now 18, a Senior in High School, works two jobs, and has recovered remarkably well, but struggles with some subjects now. He is not the same person he was before. Before, he was very introverted. Now, he's an extrovert. He is also argumentative, angry, and aggressive, and his friends have abandoned him. He and I have always been extremely close, but now I, and only I, am the object of his aggression. I am very sad for him, and I would trade places with him, or give every material possession I have, if it meant he would make a full recovery. I AM THANKFUL TO GOD FOR SPARING HIS LIFE, REGARDLESS. |
| I have a younger cousin who was riding in the car with his grandmother when and a couple idiotic moves by other people caused his accident. First, a semi was blocking a major highway while backing into a store, second idiot was reaching for his cell phone and rear ended the car my cousin was in. Dead stop hit at 55 mph. My cousin was in a coma for a while. He seems to be all there, but struggles with speech. He has to think about what he wants to say to get it to come out. Just takes longer than normal. He also lost a lot of function of his dominant arm. I think he was around 10 or 12 when it happened. |
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Yeah. Weekend sports guy at a TV station where I used to work. World was his oyster. Late 20's, well paid to cover what he loved, a beautiful wife and a cute kid.
That all ended after a traffic accident in which he suffered a severe head trauma. He survived but his wife had to feed, dress and bathe him from then on. Basically she had two kids to care for. She brought him by the station a few times. but all he could do was smile when you talked to him. Really sad.
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A science teacher back in high school got his head kicked in by some yutes.
When he came back it was like all of his minor quirks were magnified to a great degree. Plus he would randomly space out in the middle of class. He'd be mid-lecture and just stop talking and stare off into space for a few minutes. Then it was like he'd wake up and carry on like nothing happened. |
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One of my neighborhood friends, his older brother was clocked in the head by a guy in junior high school who was swinging an aluminum bat during batting practice.
My friends brother was shagging balls, while he was running he slipped and fell down. Neither him or the guy swinging the bat saw each other. My friends brother stood up right when the batter was at full swing and got clocked in the side of the head. He was knocked out cold, spent a few weeks in the hospital with a blood clot on the brain. When he got out he was never the same. He was a "ladies man" tall, athletic, good looking super smart and super nice. Afterwards, he had a weird gait, lost all of his athletic abilities (but was still country strong), super super super mellow but socially akward, it really took someone pushing his buttons to get him mad. He became the class clown, he was held back in 9th grade three times before they let him go to high school. He made it to 25 before he was shot and killed during a botched drug deal. One of my little brothers best friends had taken some LSD (who knows what it really was) and he got into a car accident and smacked his head against one of those mid 60's padded metal dashboards. He was super smart (he had skipped 5th grade) and really athletic (baseball pitcher). After the accident he was in a permanent state of "fry". He didn't understand too much of anything going on around him. Last I saw him he was homeless and living in a creek bottom about a half mile from where he grew up. He parents had sold his childhood house, he kept going there asking for him mom, the people that lived there were freaked out by him. He died from an over the counter drug overdose - he walked into a supermarket in the early 80's and are a shitload of OTC medicine pills. Some of the pills were Marezine pills, he ate enough of them that his heart went into overdrive and he had a massive heart attack and died. |
| I've had many head traumas throughout my life and suffer CRS syndrome. Names, words, talking slow, talking sometimes like I have a speech impediment... I had one of those not knowing where I am while driving episodes. Scary shit. The worst part is that nobody understands or believes I just don't give a shit enough to learn somebody's name. |
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Many many moons ago when I worked at a grocery store there was a regular customer that came in often who obviously had something wrong with him (probably about 60 years old). He didn't speak well and had kind of a limp. He'd always be nicely dressed but his hair would be a bit unkept and he'd generally have a few days worth of stubble. Basically he looked like a homeless guy dressed but to the nines. His wife would sometimes come with him and she was also always decked out, with furs in the winter.
Story was he was a prominent local attorney till he got hit by lightning and it obviously fried some circuits. |
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I dont know anyone personally but when I read this it reminds me of this guys bike accident with head trauma.
Attached File |
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The nephew of one of my coworkers rides a bike around town year round. He is on government assistance. He fried his brain with drugs years ago.
I suffered a massive concussion 5 years ago, my memory is not near as good as it used to be and I have a harder time focusing on a task :( I still don't remember between August and December of the year I schmooked my head |
| The guy I learned to build engines from was shot in the face with a .22 trying to stop a robbery. He had a promising career with some big engine builders before the incident. He was slow in some things, speech wise. According to his parents he wasn't the same guy as before. |
| Was in a car crash a few years ago and suffered a pretty bad concussion. It really screwed up my short term memory, spelling issues, forgetfullness, etc. It took around 9 months before I started feeling like I was getting better. My wife always comments how I would repeat the same thing over and over again. I had no idea that I was repeating myself and thought I was saying something for the first time. Out of the injuries I suffered the concussion was the worst part. The one thing I remember about the crash before I was knocked out was impacting the other car and how bad it hurt inside my head. |
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I have known several people with TBI's over the years. Something always changes...
My wife's cousin fell off a roof. He was a bright, outgoing guy before the fall. Now he is quiet, and barely holds a job at a lumber yard. I worked with a tool builder that had a TBI from a boat crash - nice guy but could not retain complicated instructions. Once a day he would ask how to turn on the radial drill... A girl I was dating was in a bad wreck. 3 weeks in a coma. She really changed. She never smoked before the crash, but craved cigarettes the minute she came to in the hospital. . One thing they all have in common, is that they never remember how the TBI happened. They know the story as it was told to them, but that is it. |
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I got plowed by a car while riding my bicycle in my late 20s. No helmet, busted out the windshield with my head.
I feel like I lost 20 IQ points. I have a hard time speaking, occasionally. Just like my mouth disconnects from my brain. And my temper is much shorter than it used to be. Strange little things set me off. I don't act out on it, but I do verbally snap at people for no good reason. For example, my house AC took a dump a couple weeks ago, and went straight into white-hot rage mode. Ruined my whole day, and I basically had to isolate myself from everyone for hours, so I didn't do or say anything stupid to them. Over a broken appliance. |
| Yes I have a friend that was a skilled laborer (machinist and excellent mechanic) that I've known since high school. He a had bad 4-wheeler accident one day when he was about 25 and hit his head on a rock. He survived that but has a plate in his skull now and has never been quite the same. He's still my friend but he is very socially awkward now and doesn't remember how to fix things like he used to. He sort of just climbed into a hole that he doesn't want to get out of and lives in a trailer, in a trailer park on disability. And he seems ok with just that. He has no drug or alcohol problems that I know of. He is just an introvert and kind of a recluse now. He doesn't want or ask for help but does have quite a large group of family and friends that are in constant contact. He just prefers to be left alone as much as possible. |
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Yeah. I have a TBI from a motorcycle accident. I'm mainly the same but it has changed me a lot. I def can't remember shit anymore. But at least I'm alive to not remember stuff. :) It changed my personality some, and I lost some memories. Example, I hardly remember anyone I went to high school with. Just a few. Facebook, when I was on it once, was a nightmare. Who the fuck are these people? 
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Yep. Good friend of mine's husband. Had a bike accident, was in a coma for days. They ended up getting divorced (and had met when they were 19 in college. Married for over 30 years) But he was just a different person when he woke up. Not the person who fell in love with her and visa versa. Jeez that has to be tough. Looks the same but not the same person...
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A few come to mind but the one I knew the best was a friends Wife .
She got tossed off her horse and was in a coma for 10 days . when she came out of it She seemed OK at first , but they soon found that she had lost short term memory . She functions almost normally as long as it doesn't involve anything new or changed . It like her life stopped the day she woke up . |
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I've known many TBI's. When I was working as a tech at the state hospital, there was a patient who, for reasons known only to him, chose me as his best friend. A nice black guy, in his 50's, built like a tank, had a memory of about 5 minutes and would walk with me like my shadow. He was a fixture there. Not exactly sure how he became a TBI, but apparently beforehand he was a very violent low life thug. You'd never know it by the time I met him, though. Anyway, that man basically acted as my bodyguard. Anytime it came time to become necessary to do a restraint on a patient because they refused to take meds and were becoming agitated and dangerous, I literally had to remove him from the area because he would try and jump in to protect me. I knew as long as he was around I wouldn't get so much as a scratch. The rest of the time he'd offer me half of his snacks, talk all the time about meeting a nice woman to marry and settling down with a good honest job and hanging out with me to watch TV (sorry not gonna happen lol).
He's one of ONLY two patients I truly miss. |