Description

BIA is the national peak acquired brain injury organisation representing, through its State member organisations, the interests and needs of people with acquired brain injury, their families and carers.

Acquired brain injury (ABI) refers to the multiple disabilities arising from any damage to the brain that occurs after birth. Common causes of ABI include accidents, stroke, infection, alcohol and other drug abuse and degenerative neurological disease. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is an ABI caused by a traumatic event, from an external force to the brain such as a motor vehicle accident, a fall or a blow to the head. ABI is common in Australia. In 2003, 432,700 people (2.2% of the population) had an ABI with “activity limitations” or “participation restrictions” due to their disability:

Almost 3 out of every 4 were aged less than 65 years.
160,000 had “severe or profound core activity limitations”.
2 out of every 3 were aged under 65 years, half of them between 15 and 34 years of age.
3 out of every 4 were men.

27,300 people with an ABI aged under 65 years experiencing “activity limitations” or “participation restrictions” said their ABI was the “main disabling condition”.

9 out of every 10 said their ABI was caused by accident or injury.
More than 50% of them said the accident or injury occurred on a street, road or highway.
2 out of every 3 said that they acquired their brain injury when they were aged under 25 years of age.

The consequences of an ABI can be profound, complex and multiple. The physical problems commonly reported by people with an ABI include headaches, fatigue, seizures, poor balance and coordination, visual and hearing disturbances, chronic pain, paralysis and epilepsy. Many people with an ABI experience cognitive problems, including poor memory and concentration, reduced ability to learn, plan and solve problems. Roughly two-thirds of people with an ABI exhibit shifts in behaviour post-injury, including poor impulse control and disinhibition, aggressive verbal and physical tendencies. In that context the psychosocial-emotional problems consequent to ABI can be debilitating. A person who has experienced an ABI has a 80% likelihood of developing a diagnosable mental illness. (Conversely, people with psychiatric conditions are at risk of incurring a subsequent ABI.) The types of psychiatric disorders present after (or before) an ABI may include major depression, anxiety disorders, borderline and avoidant personality disorders, and bi-polar affective disorder. There are several types, or combinations, of disabilities that come under the heading of “Dual Diagnosis”, one of which is ABI and mental illness. ABI is often referred to as the “invisible disability” because its consequences, even if observable, are often not associated with disability generally nor ABI specifically. (This is especially the case with people with a mild or moderate ABI). The cognitive-psychological and psychiatric problems, while often the consequence of ABI, can also mask it. The international literature shows that ABI is 10 times more common and produces, on average, 3 times the level of disability as spinal cord injury.

Website

www.braininjuryaustralia.org.au

State

Victoria

Social Category

Aged Care/Disabilities