Traumatic Brain Injuries: Article Analysis

The article “Psychiatric Disorders and Functional Disability in Outpatients with Traumatic Brain Injuries” published by the American Journal of Psychiatry studies people who have gone through brain trauma surgery. The main objective of the study is to see what disorders and disabilities come along through the recovery process. After evaluating fifty outpatient brain trauma surgery survivors the results came back and were shocking. “Thirteen (26%) of the patients had current major depression, and an additional 14 (28%) reported a first-onset major depressive episode after the injury that had resolved.
In the end, Psychiatrists came up with one main conclusion. “Depression and anxiety are common in outpatients with traumatic brain injuries.

For example, the left frontal lobe of the brain (the area in which I suffered the most damage) controls thinking as well as concentration, behavior, personality and mood.
I have been told by my medical team that the recovery process will be long and that some degree of depression and anxiety are physical results of my injury but I believe that there is an emotional aspect as well. The depression and anxiety are sometimes increased when I think about how the things that once came easily to me now require more effort. I often catch myself worrying about how my injury will affect my ability to pursue my life’s ambitions or whether I’ll ever be rid of the debilitating headaches, fatigue, and inability to concentrate for extended periods.
After everything they have been through, the patient will never forget that life changing day. They will forever have to deal with anxiety, depression, and work harder than others. Based on my life changing experience which put basic things in life in perspective, it seems that the conclusions reached in the article “Psychiatric disorders and functional disability in outpatients with traumatic brain injuries” are