Psychiatric Disorders following Closed Head Injury: An Overview of Biopsychosocial Factors in their Etiology and Management

Abstract

Head trauma in our society is a common occurrence, resulting in significant expenditure of societal resources. Psychiatric consequences following the injury may be the cause of significant disability during the recovery process. While nearly any psychiatric symptom or disorder may occur following head injury, there are a few common complications which are reviewed in this article. Biopsychosocial factors reported to play a role in the etiology of post-traumatic psychiatric dysfunction are reviewed, diagnostic issues are discussed, and new findings regarding treatment are reviewed.