Coma can be a result of either structural damage to the brain (traumatic brain injury, stroke, hypoxic damage to the brain) or metabolic changes such as from diabetes, renal failure, or liver failure. These comatose states from metabolic changes in the body are often more fluid, especially when you correct the metabolic problem. When there is no structural damage to the brain, people can move in and out of coma very quickly. Of course, metabolic changes can over time lead to structural brain damage, too. You also often observe this fluidity of consciousness states at the end of life. The journey toward death— if death is really the process —has many turns and ups and downs. Using Coma Work skills allows you to facilitate that journey and hopefully make it more meaningful.
Brain injury can be as individual as people, because every case of brain injury can happen for different reasons and have different effects on people. Brain injuries can also be classified as an open or closed brain injury.
Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury can happen whenever something strikes the head with force. The force would be strong enough to cause the brain to move in the skull causing internal damage to the brain. It can also occur if the skull breaks and the break itself injures the brain.
There are various reasons for this type of force. It could due to an accident or sports injury or a variety of other causes. Any event that causes the head to be struck hard enough an cause this type of traumatic brain injury.
Brain injury can also occur from rapid movement back and forth, shaking the brain hard enough in the skull that it becomes damaged. This more commonly happens in auto accidents or in cases such as Shaken Baby Syndrome. The rapid movement back and forth can lead to the sheering of nerve tissue and cause severe damage to the brain.
Different Types of Traumatic Brain Injury
Depending on how severe the injury is, the brain can suffer many types of injuries. Some of the more common classifications of such injuries include:
Diffuse Axonal Injury
This type of injury seems to be more common with the rapid movement of the head as occurs with Shaken Baby Syndrome. It usually happens because the skull is moving faster than the brain, causing certain structures in the brain to tear. This injury can be temporary or permanent, causing a coma or even possibly producing fatal effects.
Concussion
A concussion can be caused by violent action toward the head, by severe blows, or a whiplash effect. This type of injury causes blood vessels to stretch. It’s one of the more common types of brain injuries, and a concussion can take months or even years to fully heal.
Contusion
Again, this type of traumatic brain injury will happen with a violent action at the head. The injury is caused by bruising or bleeding on the brain. If the injury is severe and there is much bruising and bleeding, it can require surgery to correct.
Acquired Brain Injury or Non-traumatic Brain Injuries
These are caused by body processes that secondarily lead to structural damage to the brain such as lack of oxygen after a heart attack, stroke, an infection (meningitis) etc…
There is much more work to do putting the whole brain back together to come out of coma when someone has a brain injury, and the whole recovery period is much different.