The Traumatized Brain is a great resource for anyone with a loved one who has suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Whether you're a caregiver, co-worker, friend, or survivor, this book is filled with useful information to help you understand and be prepared for the different symptoms of TBI and how TBI affects the brain. -- Amy Zellmer, writer, photographer, and TBI survivor This book will challenge and encourage the reader. Whether an interested lay person, a caretaker, a family member, or a professional in the medical, nursing, or social work fields, readers will find this pioneering book a useful guide to the complexities of traumatic brain injury. -- From the Foreword by Peter V. Rabins, MD, MPD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, coauthor of The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for Persons with Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses, and Memory Loss in Later Life If ever there was a book that truly could save your life it would be this one. Drs. Rao and Vaishnavi have written a critical manual for parents, family, essentially anyone, to help recognize and explain the warning signs of a TBI. Without visible symptoms, sufferers have long remained silent or been deemed 'crazy,' but this important book not only details the physiological, cognitive and behavioral changes in the brain, it offers hope through treatment. -- Bob Woodruff, ABC News Journalist We are faced with an epidemic of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among victims of sports, accidents, and wars. The cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences of such injuries are varied and complex. Using a contemporary understanding of cognitive neuroscience and a gift for distilling complex ideas, Drs. Rao and Vaishnavi present a clear and coherent picture of TBI. Informed by their own substantial clinical expertise, they also offer practical advice, making this guide essential reading for caregivers and family members as well as the general clinical practitioner. -- Anjan Chatterjee, MD, FAAN, University of Pennsylvania, author of The Aesthetic Brain: How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art Doctors Rao and Vaishnavi have written a valuable and timely book that is long overdue. It contains not only an excellent summary of TBI and its effects, but also strategies to deal with those effects. I highly recommend this excellent book. -- Thom Mayer, MD, Medical Director, NFL Players Association

A traumatic brain injury is a life-changing event, affecting an individual's lifestyle, ability to work, relationships-even personality. Whatever caused it-car crash, work accident, sports injury, domestic violence, combat-a severe blow to the head results in acute and, often, lasting symptoms. People with brain injury benefit from understanding, patience, and assistance in recovering their bearings and functioning to their full abilities. In The Traumatized Brain, neuropsychiatrists Drs Vani Rao and Sandeep Vaishnavi - experts in helping people heal after head trauma - explain how traumatic brain injury, whether mild, moderate, or severe, affects the brain. They advise readers on how emotional symptoms such as depression, anxiety, mania, and apathy can be treated; how behavioral symptoms such as psychosis, aggression, impulsivity, and sleep disturbances can be addressed; and how cognitive functions like attention, memory, executive functioning, and language can be improved. They also discuss headaches, seizures, vision problems, and other neurological symptoms of traumatic brain injury. By stressing that symptoms are real and are directly related to the trauma, Rao and Vaishnavi hope to restore dignity to people with traumatic brain injury and encourage them to ask for help. Each chapter incorporates case studies and suggestions for appropriate medications, counseling, and other treatments, and ends with targeted tips for coping. The book also includes a useful glossary, a list of resources, and suggestions for further reading.