Jason Stephens | April 22, 2025 | Brain Injuries
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significantly life-altering event. While most people understand the pain and functioning issues that result from a head injury, personality changes can be easily overlooked. Having who you are suddenly change can hurt your relationships, your career, and lead to social isolation. In this article, we will explore various behavioral shifts to look for so you can document and treat your injury as completely as possible.
If you’ve experienced a brain injury, a personal injury attorney can help you get compensated. It’s easy to think personality shifts after a TBI are temporary, but these changes are real medical symptoms that should be documented. Having the essence of who you are change because of someone else’s carelessness is a tragic loss.
How Personality Changes Manifest After a TBI
Different areas of the brain control different aspects of our functioning and behavior. For example, if the parts of the brain responsible for social awareness or emotional control are injured, a previously shy person may become disinhibited. Frontal lobe injuries typically cause the biggest behavioral shifts. Here are a few additional factors to consider:
- Pre-existing conditions and traits can impact how any particular brain injury manifests. For example, someone already suffering from Complex-PTSD, in other words, someone whose brain has already been altered due to growing up constantly being in fight or flight, is going to be more sensitive to a TBI.
- The more severe the head trauma, the more prominent the personality shifts will be.
- Certain injuries are more treatable with therapy and rehabilitation than others.
Something to think about is that irritability is a symptom of even a minor brain injury, like a concussion. The irritability stems more from being extra sensitive to sounds and lights or having blurry vision than from any actual brain damage. Feeling like the world is suddenly different and you are out of control is going to put anyone in a sour mood. Now, consider this on the scale of a more severe head injury, and you can see how someone’s behavior can suddenly shift as a result.
Emotional Dysregulation
The inability to effectively control and manage your feelings is called “emotional dysregulation.” An example of emotional dysregulation is getting terrified when someone calls you and hangs up. This inability to react and respond reasonably can include both overreactions and “under-reactions.” Furthermore, emotional dysregulation can include:
- Difficulty recognizing how you feel about something
- Having outbursts or meltdowns
- Mood swings
- Struggling with the duration and intensity of your feelings
- Crying or laughing in situations where these behaviors don’t seem socially justified or appropriate
Emotional dysregulation causes a lot of people to isolate, feel ashamed, and lose hope.
Behavioral Changes
Perhaps the most frustrating symptom is that many people struggling with these personality shifts are not aware that they have changed. In addition to emotional dysregulation, traumatic brain injuries can also cause these behavioral changes:
- Losing interest in previous hobbies
- Interrupting
- Struggling to maintain relationships
- Constantly worrying and feeling overwhelmed
- Impulsivity
- Poor self-awareness
- Social anxiety
- Being unable to beat the blues
- Emotional flatness or apathy
Contact Our Brain Injury Law Firm in Fort Worth, TX
A Fort Worth personal injury attorney can help you understand your legal rights after a brain injury. If you or someone you love is not themselves after a TBI, reach out as soon as possible. A skilled personal injury attorney will work closely with medical experts, neurologists, and therapists to fully understand the impact of your brain injury, including personality changes that may not be immediately visible on a scan. These behavioral and emotional shifts are often among the most devastating long-term effects of a TBI, yet insurance companies and defense teams frequently overlook them.
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Fort Worth and need legal help, contact our Fort Worth and Weatherford brain injury lawyers at Stephens Law Personal Injury | Wrongful Death | Truck Accidents to schedule a free consultation.
Stephens Law Personal Injury | Wrongful Death | Truck Accidents
1300 S University Dr # 406
Fort Worth, TX 76107
(817) 420-7000
Stephens Law Personal Injury | Wrongful Death | Truck Accidents – Weatherford Office
109 York Ave Suite #201
Weatherford, TX 76086
(817) 409-7000
