Brain injuries turn the familiar unfamiliar. This is the starting point for a video that tries to explain what it is like to live with a traumatic brain injury.

The Invisible Rain Cloud

De Caro & Kaplen, LLP are brain injury lawyers in New York who created this video to explain TBI. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “In 2013, about 2.8 million TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths occurred in the United States.”

The lawyers explain in a blog post why they made the video:

If you’re a traumatic brain injury survivor, are you frustrated by being told how lucky you are? How your injury could have been much worse? How you look great? For those suffering from a TBI it’s difficult to explain how they feel.

Additionally, you can read the slides on their site.

Invisible Injury

TBI is sometimes referred to as the “invisible injury” because people may look outwardly fine while still navigating difficulties such as aphasia. When brain tissue used for speech and language is damaged, aphasia can occur.

Depending on the severity of the trauma, aphasia due to TBI could be transient or more permanent. Often, aphasia caused by TBI will be accompanied by other cognitive problems since TBI usually affects multiple areas of the brain.

Our resource page on brain trauma provides other links to learn more about TBI. Or, as the video so eloquently puts, we can see your rain cloud, and sometimes it helps to know that you’re not alone.