“Countless victims tell us that their abuser hit them on the head because their hair would hide their bruises,” says Dr Glynnis Zieman, a neurologist at the Concussion and Brain Injury Center at Barrow Neurological Institute, who runs a program focused on treating traumatic brain injury in survivors found that traumatic brain injury is a frequent consequence of domestic violence; 81 per cent of subjects reported that they had lost consciousness at least once because of violence. Victims often don't seek treatment, adds Zieman, and even when they do, the doctor may not bring up brain injury if the obvious damage is, say, a broken arm. “We're often the first to ask about head injuries,” she says. And unlike athletes, who might take a break to recover after a head injury, victims often don't have that luxury. “The most profound thing they endure is cognitive problems – particularly related to memory, attention, organisation and planning-that often prevent them from holding down a job or performing everyday tasks,” says Zieman. Cognitive problems have a greater impact among this population; “If they can't process information, it makes it harder to plan a way to leave their abuser.” For their sake – and yours – it's time for female head injuries to be taken seriously.
