There are few things more valuable to Georgia residents than their health. Accordingly, when an individual sustains a serious injury, it can have a dramatic impact in multiple phases of a person’s life.
One area that can be impacted in particular after an injury is a person’s professional life. While performing tasks around the house may be difficult after a serious injury, returning to work can seem nearly impossible.
Take, for example, a traumatic brain injury, which can occur to anyone, regardless of age. Indeed, more than five million individuals are estimated to have a traumatic brain injury, including many younger individuals who must spend years living with the disability.
One study found that nearly 50 percent of those who had a severe brain injury were unable to return to work a year after the injury. Another twenty percent with mild injuries also had an inability to work. Accordingly, the study noted that it was difficult for those with brain injuries to be able to return to the jobs they maintained prior to suffering the injury, particularly those who had more challenges because of their injury.
This can pose a serious problem because the inability to work means a loss of income to support oneself and his or her family. This is especially true for younger individuals because of the years of work that are lost to the injury.
Individuals living with a brain injury thus may want to consider filing a claim for Social Security disability benefits for their injuries. Social Security disability benefits can provide a much-needed source of income to those who find themselves unable to work because of an injury. As a result, individuals can focus on the thing that matters most – maintaining their personal health, without having to worry about not having any income due to the lost work.
Source: Brainline.org, “TBI research review: return to work after traumatic brain injury,” accessed on Jan. 17, 2015
