The Brain/Mind Experience of Psychosis: A Case Study

Abstract

As a part of my clinical research project (“Listening to the Brain/Recovering the Brain/Mind”) I came across the fact that one of the 
long-term consequences of a traumatic brain injury (concussions and post-concussion syndrome) is psychosis.  What is psychosis?  It is the loss of the ability to be grounded, most often characterized by hallucinations and delusions, a decline in cognitive functioning, and an inability to be present in many life situations because of dissociation.  The first such case I was presented with occurred with a National Basketball Association player who was forced into an early retirement because he was suffering with schizophrenia, a major mental illness.  While working with Mr. C, I was alerted to a large Danish Study (2014) that demonstrated the connection between traumatic brain injuries and major mental illness.  You can follow the details of this case in my book “The Complex Architecture and Healing of Traumatic Brain Injuries” from Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2023, chapter on “Brutality to the Brain.”  Sadly Mr. C passed away in 2018 due to heart complications.  Before his death, he shared with me how brutal the NBA was at the time he was playing.  Elbows to the head, both intentional and unintentional, were a constant problem for him, causing a number of concussions.  I only had a short time with his case before his death, but even at the end, there was no recognition of what the Danish Study had found.  And no treatment of the real cause of his suffering.   Over time, I came to the realization that all concussions (this is a strong statement to make, but it is what I have observed), create neurodegenerative disease processes in the brain.  (See my article: “The Complex Architecture of Traumatic Brain Injuries.) Fast forward to now, I am seeing this pattern, this connection between brain injuries and psychosis, more often than I would have expected.  I will be presenting 2 cases where early concussions during childhood eventually led to difficulties with cognitive decline and a full-blown psychosis.