I took printouts to my appeal of all the information on the Headway site of the affects of BI on motor function, executive function etc but found I didn't need it. At the appeal there was a Judge and very knowledgable doctor, all was well. It appears they make us go through these hoops to weed out the undeserving, just a shame it causes us so much stress.
I feel sorry for those people who don't have help cos those forms are a minefield.xxxx
It took two years and a court appearance for my employer to recognise my brain injury. The stress this caused me was immeasurable. Although with the benefit office I had no problems and when sent to see a doctor after two years on Incapacity Benefit the doctor was very supportive, even frustrated that I'd been sent when the reports from my consultants were conclusive. I do accept that payments of benefit must not be abused, but the stress I was put under by my employer amounted to abuse. I also found there was no support from the benefit office when it came to form filling
Thank you for your post, it's a very interesting question.
I think as Roger says, different types of brain trauma can have quite similar effects. For instance, a haemorrhage/bleed is seen in many people who have a stroke, an injury due to a blow to the head, a ruptured aneurysm, etc. The effects mainly depend on how severe it is and the location of the damage caused. There's a bit more explanation of this in the 'About the brain' section on our website: headway.org.uk/About-the-br...
For this reason, there isn't really a way to predict the symptoms based on the type of brain injury. Everyone has a very personal experience of brain injury based on the severity, location, cause, brain structure, access to rehabilitation, support, and many more factors.
There are some exceptions, such as for brain injury due to a lack of oxygen, where the effects can be very widespread and depend on the length of time the brain is without oxygen. In this case we've created separate information explaining the effects: headway.org.uk/effects-of-a...
It is difficult to cover everything but I think your comment highlights that there could be other ways to present our information. We'll certainly take this on board as we are constantly developing our resources.
Thank you for your reply and highlights why we need more of a consensus between doctors the medical profession and other bodies when this governments fit for work farce does not regard brain trauma as being a valid reason why some one is not fit to work with out clear agreement between medical professionals to the extent and the consequences of brain injury on those who are lucky enough to survive it people will be fighting the system and being put under enormous stress and stress being the main factor in my SAH makes no sense to me at all this is why clinical studies are so important but you try and find one that makes sense to the none medical mind
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