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Focusing on a public health problem affecting millions of people of all ages, the second edition of Concussive Brain Trauma: Neurobehavioral Impairment and Maladaptation reflects Dr. Rolland S. Parker's more than 25 years of neuropsychological practice and research in traumatic brain injury and stress, and his prior experience as a clinical psychol

The brain is a delicate, complex, and easily disrupted organ. Unfortunately, the frequency of brain injury and the impairing effects of even seemingly minor injury is generally unknown to the public, the media, and, surprisingly, even many health professionals. It is hoped that this book will make a contribution to the welfare of brain-damaged people through a comprehensive and detailed state­ ment concerning their impairment and how to recognize it. Increased under­ standing of impairment, and the significant symptoms that reveal it, will enhance treatment planning, and aid in avoiding the error of assuming that symptoms are emotional, malingering, or exaggerations. In writing this book I have drawn on my experience in assessing individuals of all ages who have undergone traumatic brain injury, in order to alert the public, their families, concerned professionals, teaching physicians, psychologists, and attorneys to the clinical and technical issues that will aid in understanding and serving these people. Experience as a psychotherapist and career counselor offered a clinical perspective from which to document the conclusion that trau­ matic brain damage frequently impairs adaptive capacity of children and adults after even relatively'minor'injury.

A wide-range study of victims of head injury often reveals disorders that are neglected by less extensive examinations, and dispels the idea that there is usually a benign outcome. Focusing on a public health problem affecting millions of people of all ages, with approximately 1,300 references, Concussive Brain Trauma: Neurobehavioral Impairment and Maladaptation addresses such topics as the recognition of minor traumatic brain injury in the emergency room and clinical practice. The book is unique in its coverage of the personality changes, family dysfunction, and stress that often occur in wake of concussive brain trauma. Case examples illustrate persistent and acute alterations of consciousness, as well as cognitive, mood, personality, and social effects of head injury, in order to guide appropriate treatment. In addition, the book documents unfamiliar signs not included in the usual list of postconcussive symptoms. Concussive Brain Trauma: Neurobehavioral Impairment and Maladaptation stands alone as an in-depth, authoritative guide to the condition also described as closed head injury and'minor'traumatic brain injury.