If you suffer a serious traumatic brain injury (TBI) at work, workers’ compensation can be a huge relief. It can help you obtain the medical benefits you need while still maintaining at least some income while you heal.
However, it’s critically important that you understand as much as possible about how your injury will affect your future in the long run.
The location of the injury can dictate the damage
It is possible to recover from some traumatic brain injuries, but not all of them. If your injury is serious, a TBI can affect your ability to work for years to come, or even the rest of your life. Much of it depends on the part of your brain that was injured in the accident.
If the damage is to the right side of the brain, it could leave you unable to perform tasks you regularly did as part of your job. Once-familiar tasks could suddenly seem strange to you. You may no longer be able to easily process visual data or information. That can affect everything from your hand-eye coordination to your ability to read.
If the damage is to the left side of the brain, it can affect your ability to speak. You may also have difficulty understanding what others say to you. Your ability to think logically can also suffer. Without communication skills or the ability to break a task down into steps, you could have a real barrier to returning to your former job.
If the damage is to the frontal lobe, it might result in you engaging in risks you never would have considered before. Impulsivity and a lack of self-control can affect your ability to get along with others and make good decisions.
It can be difficult to estimate the true cost of a traumatic brain injury to you. It’s best to have someone with the necessary legal experience help you understand what you might need and be entitled to claim.