Many people who sustain a brain injury experience problems with their ability to think, plan, concentrate, and remember. After a brain injury, some cognitive symptoms may appear right away, while others can arise long after the injury. If you or someone you know has sustained a blow to the head, it's important to keep an eye out for any of these 'invisible indicators' of a brain injury.
- Confusion
- Problems with concentration
- Problems with organization
- Problems with planning
- Memory impairment
- Poor performance at school or work
- Difficulty completing tasks on sequence
- Perseveration
- Attention problems
- Trouble solving problems, or multi-tasking
- Difficulty making decisions
- Problems with language, reading, and writing
- Problems identifying objects
- Decreased awareness of self or surroundings
- Problems recognizing or remembering individuals
- Reasoning problems
- Slowed processing speed
If any of these symptoms appear immediately or soon after the injury, then the injured person needs to be evaluated at a hospital right away. If weeks, months, or years have passed by since the injury, then it may be helpful to enlist the help of a neuropsychologist, who can administer a series of tests that screen for thinking-related impairments due to brain injury.