Jack can certainly speak on this topic. If you've read the beginning of his book, posted here online, you'll remember that, after his TBI, Jack was "fired" by his first doctor because of his behavior -- behavior he couldn't help.

From a recent article:

The council's study centers on the disruptive behaviors and emotional problems that brain-injury patients often exhibit and ways to help them, said Paul Aravich, a neuroscientist at Eastern Virginia Medical School and the council's past chairman.

Such problems often affect a person's impulse control, emotional skills and thinking skills and can be "the most disabling features of a brain injury," Aravich said. That's because the behavior, including anger and aggression, is often misunderstood, he said. The patient may be perceived as a "jerk" or as someone a nursing home or other center doesn't want to deal with, he said.

"If you are a person with a physical disability who is well-mannered and compliant, you can get help," he said. "But if you are a person with a challenging behavior, it is an entirely different problem. There is not a facility available to take care of them."

Read the whole article.

Labels: books, brain damage, TBI, traumatic brain injury