Texas traumatic brain injury lawyers

Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury on Consciousness

A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is an injury that results in damage to the brain following some sort of trauma to the head. This type of head injury can vary from mild to severe, depending on the severity of the accident that caused the traumatic brain injury.

When an individual suffers from a head injury, there is a good chance that he or she will experience some degree of altered consciousness, even if only for a period of time. Again, the severity of altered consciousness will vary with the severity of the injury.

Types of Abnormal Consciousness

There are six different "abnormal states" of consciousness that an individual with a traumatic brain injury may experience. These are:

• Stupor—Stupor is a state where the affected individual is unresponsive but can react to a very strong stimulus, such as pain.
• Coma—An individual in a coma is completely unconscious, unaware, unresponsive, and cannot be aroused.
• Persistent Vegetative State—A person in a persistent vegetative state is unconscious and unaware of his or her surroundings, but will experience fairly normal wake / sleep cycles and can have moments of alertness.
• Minimally Conscious State—Individuals in a minimally conscious state may appear to be in a persistent vegetative state but maintain the ability to process information.
• Locked-in Syndrome—A person suffering from locked-in syndrome is mentally awake, aware, and able to process information but suffers from complete physical paralysis and cannot move or speak.
• Brain death—Brain death is the most severe of these altered states of consciousness in that it is the lack of any measurable brain function, and is irreversible.

Contact the Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers

If you or someone you know has suffered a traumatic brain injury, contact the traumatic brain injury lawyers of Williams Kherkher by calling 866-950-9000 to discuss your legal rights and options.