TBI Doubles the Rate of Homelessness, Alcoholism, and Drug Abuse

Dr. Wayne Gordon, an expert in the medical rehabilitation of persons with TBI, says that approximately 7-8% of people in the U.S. are living with the residuals of a TBI and many of them do not even know it. According to Dr. Gordon (who is the director of the Brain Injury Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York), untreated TBI doubles the rate of learning disability, alcohol and drug abuse, and homelessness.

If you have a new TBI I encourage you to get treatment any way you can – be it through private health insurance, workers compensation, Medicare, a not-for-profit charity or even a medical study at a respected academic medical center.If you are fortunate enough to win a lawsuit for compensatory damages for your TBI, then you can apply part of your settlement to treatment.The important thing is not to tough it out. Brain injuries do not heal themselves and in the absence of treatment some very bad consequences can result.