There are some significant differences between post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a traumatic brain injury (TBI), but those differences are often eclipsed by the similarities. With all of the discussion regarding Iraq soldiers who are returning with cognitive problems, it’s not hard to mix them up.

Here are some ways you can differentiate between the two.

A TBI is caused by a physical trauma to the brain tissue that creates symptoms such as memory loss, anxiety and confusion, while PTSD happens after an emotional trauma and can have many of the same symptoms.

PTSD can be caused by many different things - childhood abuse, accidents, natural disasters and witnessing or experiencing violence such as happens in war. Emotions arise such as fear, anger, anxiety that can appear immediately, but often show up later. Depression, difficulty focusing and a sense of being out of control can begin to negatively affect the person’s life and lead them to find treatment.

TBI’s can also lead to depression and agitation, but they tend to create physically symptoms that PTSD doesn’t. Dizziness, blurred vision and interrupted sleep patterns are all common side effects. TBI’s can be verified through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and can be treated through both physical and psychological rehabilitation.

There aren’t any guaranteed treatments for either condition, though researchers have been working hard on finding ways to help people reduce, if not cure, their symptoms.

Two good resources for information on these injuries are the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

This week’s resource is the Website America’s Heroes at Work.

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) created this site in order to address the “employment challenges of returning service members living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).”

America’s Heroes gives employers tools that can help our military men and women affected by TBI and PTSD better succeed in the civilian workplace. To accomplish this they are collaborating with the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) and the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).

For more information, visit their site here.

With the use of brain-imaging technology that uses MEG technology (magnetoencephalography), physicians at an Elk Grove Village hospital are hoping to determine if combat veterans are suffering from undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries.

This “magnetic stethoscope” picks up magnetic signals that are produced by the brain when it is exposed to visual or auditory stimuli. This will help doctors determine whether vets who have PTSD also have a TBI as those signals differ when patients have one from when they have both.

According to the Chicago Tribune article, this technology will help patients receive proper treatment for the biological factors involved in PTSD and TBI.

Yesterday’s post on the Brain Damage Blog provides awareness of the need for consideration to be given to the “organic component of the emotional symptoms experienced after combat”.

The author Gordon Johnson, an attorney specializing in brain injury, believes in making sure that not only should the emotional aspects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) be evaluated and addressed, but that the possibility of an organic injury (concussion, etc.) has to be weighed and not ignored.

We think this is valuable advice and should be well heeded if you or someone you know has been diagnosed with PTSD. For the rest of the post, please click here. For a full discussion on PTSD, check out this link.

Image credit NY University