- SELF STUDY MODULES
- 1. Intro to TBI
- 2. Communication
- 3. Skills for independence
- 4. Cognitive changes
- 5. Behaviour changes
- 6. Sexuality
- 7. Case management (BIR)
- 8. No longer available
- 9. Mobility & motor control
- 10. Mental health & TBI:
an introduction - 11. Mental health problems
and TBI: diagnosis
& management - 12. Working with Families
after Traumatic Injury:
An Introduction - 13. Goal setting
- 10.0 Aims
- 10.0A Take the PRE-Test
- 10.1 Mental health & mental illness
- 10.2 Why identify mental health problems after TBI
- 10.3 Why a person might get a mental health problem
- 10.4 The brain and mental health problems
- 10.5 Types of mental health problems after a TBI
- a) Depression
- b) Psychosis
- c) Anxiety
- d) Personality change
- 10.6 Fatigue and problems initiating activities
- 10.7 Issues in using:
- a) Drugs & alcohol
- b) Pain killers
- c) Natural therapies
- 10.8 Treatment challenges
- 10.9 Who to see - services available
- 10.10 Take home messages
- 10.11 Resource
- 10.12 Take the POST-test
10.10 Take home messages
-
Mental illness is when a person:
- has particular symptoms or behaviour
- that represents certain types of illnesses that psychiatrists or psychologists diagnose.
- Brain injury can increase the risk of a person having a mental health problem but not every person who has a brain injury will get a mental health problem.
- The more severe a person's brain injury the greater the risk they have of getting a mental health problem.
- If the person has a family history of mental health problems, if the person has had a mental health problem before their brain injury, or abused drugs or alcohol, they are at a greater risk of getting a mental illness .
- Identifying mental health problems after a traumatic brain injury is important because it
- Improves the person's ability to recover
- Reduces health risks
- Helps reduce stress and
- May reduce legal risks.
- Diagnosis of mental illness for a person with traumatic brain injury can be a challenge.
- The four main types of mental health problems after a traumatic brain injury are
- Depression
- Psychosis
- Anxiety
- Personality change.
- Each of these types of mental health problems has different symptoms, but the symptoms can overlap.
- Each of them requires specific treatments. For example, in managing depression:
- caused by a biochemical imbalance or structural changes in the brainwe often need to use medication. But the combination of counselling and medication is going to work much better than medication alone.
- which is a reactive depression counselling or a treatment called cognitive behaviour therapy helps most people to get better.
- Treatment is usually straightforward - most of the mental health problems people get after a brain injury can respond to treatment. Most of the treatments are reasonably well accepted and do not have too many side effects.
- If you are a carer and you get a mental health problem, go and get some help for it because it will make it much easier for you to be a carer and to take care of the person in your family that has had a brain injury.
- Even though treatment is usually straightforward there are many treatment challenges for example:
- Lack of awareness of insight of the person with the traumatic brain injury
- Lack of local clinicians with the relevant expertise to diagnose the problem
- The social stigma associated with mental illness
- Mental health services mistaking the symptoms of a mental health problem for symptoms of traumatic brain injury .
- It is important to identify a source of further information, for example in New South Wales, Australia - the New South Wales Brain Injury Association.
