Traumatic brain injury can range from relatively mild to catastrophically severe depending on multiple factors including degree of force, multiple trauma, neurological complications, and timeliness of emergency medical treatment. Usually, closed head injury implies traumatic brain injury, but this may not necessarily always be the case. Whether or not brain injury is sustained depends on the power of the physical force injury. If the injury is great enough, physical force radiates from the skull into the brain or causes sudden movement of the brain inside the skull, resulting in damaged nerve cells. Symptoms of soft tissue injury may mimic mild brain injury.
Differential diagnosis is essential.
A mild traumatic brain injury can result in permanent, life-altering consequences. The roadblocks of damaged and disconnected neurons mar the processing of electro-chemical messages within the brain. Judgment and decision-making may be faulty because the complex interrelated brain connections are just not available to the person now as they were before the injury. The individual senses incomplete mental processing and loses confidence in thinking. Complex or unfamiliar tasks become frustrating, as thinking no longer yields insights or easy problem solutions.