Why Traumatic Head Injuries Are an Urgent Feminist Issue [View all]

[polly7]

Given the already precarious circumstances of many domestic abuse survivors, early and accurate diagnosis is essential.

By Sophie Ghitman / AlterNet June 20, 2015

But a recent article in the Huffington Post posits that a different group may make up the majority of those living with TBI. Melissa Jeltsen writes that survivors of domestic violence are now thought to experience these injuries in numbers that eclipse previous estimates. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's haveestimated that 1.7 million people experience TBI every year, and 2 percent of the population, or 5.3 million Americans, are living with a disability caused by it. But experts speculate that as many as 20 million women each year - up to 6% of the population - could have TBI caused by domestic violence.

Walker is now a coordinator for Sojourner Center, one of the largest domestic violence shelters in the U.S. On June first, Sojourner Center launched the BRAIN (Brain Recovery And Inter-professional Neuroscience,) Program. Together with TBI experts at local hospitals and medical institutions, BRAIN will seek to determine the percentage of domestic violence survivors suffering from TBI caused by domestic violence. They hope to develop an accurate estimate by screening the roughly 9,000 women and children who are seen at Sojourner every year.

The program will investigate the occurrence of domestic violence-related TBI, its short-term and long-term effects, and how best to provide individualized treatment plans. BRAIN also aims to develop tools that can be used by non-medical staff, such as social workers and shelter employees, to screen for head trauma.

For Kerri Walker, It’s taken enormous time and effort to adjust to life after TBI. "It’s changed me for the rest of my life," Walker said. "My short-term memory is shot. I’ll be writing and I’ll mix up letters. All of a sudden, I’ll write an E backwards. I had to find a new normal for myself.” Walker had a brain aneurysm rupture just four months after leaving her abusive partner. It’s taken her years to accept the effects of her cumulative brain injuries.

Full article: http://www.alternet.org/why-traumatic-head-injuries-are-urgent-feminist-issue?akid=13232.44541.7sKtqB&rd=1&src=newsletter1038135&t=9

I sometimes wonder if I should go get checked. I have pictures that look like I went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson over many years, one with my nose under my left eye. I do some things sometimes like the women in this article ... like forgetting how to write a letter, or not being able to concentrate at all for brief periods of time. I'm probably fine, but it would be interesting to get tested although I imagine it's way too late to do anything.