The impact of a motor vehicle collision can cause your head to jolt or collide with objects around you. To suffer a traumatic brain injury can be life-changing for some victims. It can affect your way of thinking, feeling and behaving.
According to Fairview, one of the most common TBI symptoms includes slowed thinking and cognition issues.
How does a TBI impact your cognition?
Traumatic brain injuries affect different patients in various ways. You may return home and find you cannot keep your home organized anymore. Even if you regularly multitasked before, you may have difficulty juggling simple tasks now. For example, you may turn on the TV for background noise while cooking and forget all about the food on the stove.
Many people suffer from short-term memory loss after an injury. Short-term memory lasts for about 30 minutes. For example, you may call someone with a question and forget it during the conversation.
How can you improve your cognition?
Your brain is a muscle you can exercise and improve. One way to treat cognitive issues is to keep your brain active. Practice your memorization all of the time. Work on crossword puzzles and other brain games. When it comes to forgetting items or plans, write down all of your plans and assign one place to keep keys, important papers or your wallet.
Give yourself a routine to stay on top of your schedule. Sleeping and waking simultaneously every day can also improve your sleep. Sleep deprivation makes cognition worse.
While some symptoms may improve on their own, others may require extensive rehabilitation.