Greece Head Injury Association is a not-for-profit organization committed to ensuring that survivors of head injury maximize their potential for recovery and are able to lead productive and personally meaningful lives while becoming as independent as possible.

Association is an independent, not-for-profit agency, widely recognized for its innovative programming for survivors of head injury and their families.

We seek to increase public awareness of TBI (traumatic brain injury) and its consequences, and thereby obtain some solutions to the many problems facing Greece's survivors and their families.

We strive, by political and educational means, to ensure that the survivors of head injury have all requisite medical, rehabilitation, vocational and recreational systems available and are able to live with dignity in a comfortable and accessible environment.

When the crisis of head injury suddenly occurs, each family's reaction and means of coping will be different. We recognize the devastating impact of TBI and provide a network of services specifically designed to meet the initial and life- time needs of survivors and caregivers facing this crisis, We are here to assist with information and support to help you adapt in your own way.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES:

Family Support Services are your link to information, support and services from the onset of head injury through all phases of recovery as you experience the impact of this trauma.

We strive to meet these challenges by offering a range of programs.

* Resource and Referral Services

Our listings include rehabilitation programs, private practitioners. entitlement options, and a range of concrete services which may be needed over time. Current information is available on the range of rehabilitation options.

* Networking and Advocacy ensures access to all medical, residential, vocational, and social systems.

* Support groups present opportunities for sharing information, problem solving and emotional support. Support groups meet in multiple locations on Greece and provide opportunities for survivors, family members and spouses/significant others to independently share common issues and coping strategies. Groups are facilitated by trained professionals.

Five Myths about Traumatic Brain Injury
by Charles N. (Nick) Simkins

Despite many of the scientific and technological advances that have been made in the field of brain injury, many myths still persist about traumatic brain injury (TBI). Whether the myths exist through ignorance or by intentional design, the real problem is that these myths often prevent legitimately injured people from receiving the medical care, treatment and therapy that they desperately need and deserve. There are also too many lawyers who are not able to provide proper representation for their client with brain injury, oftentimes because they are of the notion that psychiatric consequences of traumatic brain injury, even though disabling, are not as "serious" as cognitive impairments. This article will take a brief look at five of the most common myths associated with brain injury particularly as they relate to the field of law The article will also offer some suggested questions that may be used to dispel misleading in formation about these myths in the courtroom setting.

Myth 1: Loss of consciousness is a necessary pre-requisite for traumatic brain injury.

According to the book by Silver, Yudolfsky and Hales entitled Neuropsychiatry of Traumatic Brain Injury, 35 percent of the people studied in scientific literature sustained a traumatic brain injury without a reported loss of consciousness. This myth has been particular easy to dispel and it has been the author's experience that the following questions can be in the courtroom. 1) Doctor, would you agree that a person need not lose consciousness or be in a coma to sustain a traumatic brain injury? 2) Doctor, during your career, have you made diagnosis of traumatic brain injury for patients whose hospital record indicated there was no loss of consciousness? And 3) Doctor, during your career have you actually provided or recommended care and treatment for someone with a diagnosis of brain injury who did not lose consciousness as a result of trauma?

Myth 2: When describing a brain injury, the words "mild" or "minor" mean "insignificant."

Even so-called minor brain injuries (ie. A minor concussion or a simple skull fracture) may have long term effects on mental function and quality of life. In the Society of Automotive Engineers' publication entitled Automotive Safety by Jeffrey A. Pike, there is discussion of traumatic brain injury entitled "Minor Injuries." According to Pike, "a number of relatively subtle, not as easily detectable neuropsychological deficits may exist after some "minor" head trauma and may be capable of interfering with an individual's ability to function at a pre-injury level. These deficits may include: verbal and communicative disorders; deficits in information processing ability; deficits in reaction time; short and intermediate-term memory difficulties; problems with perceptions and deficits in concept formation and general reasoning ability." During testimony, the following questions could help dispel the myth. 1) Doctor, would you agree that the word "mild" or "minor" to describe a head injury, does not mean the injury is insignificantl? And 2) Doctor, would you agree that there is literature and research that suggests that some persons may develop cognitive or emotional problems as a consequence of what is described as a "minor" or "mild" brain injury?

Myth 3: The case involving traumatic brain injury is not that serious because it is only "psychiatric problems."

The third edition of the American Psychiatric Textbook of Neuropsychiatry states that unlike many psychiatric illnesses that have gradual onset. TBI often occurs suddenly and devastatingly. Although some individuals recognize that they no longer have the same abilities and potential they had before the injury, many others with significant disabilities deny that there have been any changes. Psychiatric disturbances associated with frontal lobe injury can include: impaired social judgement; labile effect; uncharacteristic lewdness; inability to appreciate the effects of one's behavior or remarks on others; a loss of social graces and a reduced attention to personal appearance and hygiene. After brain injury, an individual may exhibit behaviors that tend to be more disorderly, suspicious, argumentative, isolated, disruptive and/or anxious. These conditions can have drastic and lasting effects on a person with brain injury and should be addressed in court with questions such as: 1) Doctor, would you agree that a person can develop psychiatric problems as a consequence of traumatic brain injury? And 2) Doctor, during your career, have you actually determined that someone was disabled from competitive employment because of psychiatric problems such as depression?

Myth 4:In order to be considered a traumatic brain injury, the head must actually strike or impact another surface. This is simply not true. There are two basic types of brain injury, open head injury and closed head injury. Open head injuries are caused by bullets or other penetrating objects. Closed head injury, the more common of the two is usually caused by a rapid movement of the head during which the brain is whipped back and fourth bouncing off the inside of the skull. The stress of the rapid movements pulls apart and stretches nerve fibers or axons, breaking connections between different parts of the brain. This means that even if the head does not strike or come into contact with another surface, a traumatic brain injury can occur simply from the brain's movement inside the skullcap. Concussions and injury caused after a severe neck injury (ie. Whiplash) can also result in brain injury. During testimony, the following questions can be utilized: 1) Doctor, would you agree that a person can sustain traumatic brain injury without actually striking their head? And 2) Doctor, during your career, have you made diagnosis of persons with brain injury who reported that they did not strike their head during the traumatic event? Myth 5: The cognitive impairments identified on the neuropsychological testing do not fit any known pattern of cognitive impairments following traumatic brain injury. According to Dr. Muriel Lezak, the behavioral repercussions of brain injury vary with the nature, extent, location and duration of the injury; the age; the sex, physical condition and physiological differences. Brain injury is a very individualized condition and no two individuals with brain injury will share identical symptoms and deficits. To make that point during testimony, the author suggests a line of questioning such as, Doctor, would you agree that different types of cognitive impairments and psychiatric conditions on different individuals?