About 5.3 million people currently live with a TBI in the United States, and none of them suffer from identical symptoms. The impact to your life depends not only on the type of TBI you suffered, but also your life circumstances, including your age and general health.
Many people used to believe children could recover faster and suffer fewer long-lasting effects than adults. This is simply not true. In fact, children often suffer more serious results from a TBI than adults because children’s brains are still developing and children often have difficulty describing with accuracy how they feel and where things hurt.
The injury type and location also play a part in how a TBI affects victims. If you injure the temporal lobe, you may experience challenges speaking and recalling memories. But a person who suffers an injury to their cerebellum may not stand without wobbling. This same person may have no trouble speaking or remembering the past.