Acquired Brain Injury, Alcohol and Other Drugs
Acquired brain injury and alcohol and other drugs
It is difficult to obtain estimates of the number of people with alcohol and other drug-related brain injuries (e.g. heroin, ecstasy, chroming) due to under-diagnosis. Reasons1 for this include
• people may not self-disclose due to fear of stigmatisation.
• the condition may go unrecognised by health, medical and community services.
• few people are treated in acute care settings - the most common point for collection of data,
• without comprehensive neuropsychological and neurological assessments, it is difficult to tell whether people presenting with alcohol and drug (A&D) problems have an underlying cognitive impairment due to a previously incurred ABI unrelated to A&D use,
• there is no easily administered screening tool.
Resource: Brain Injury Australia
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Acquired brain injury and alcohol and other drugs
