Head Injury—Organic and Psychogenic Issues in Compensation Claims

Abstract

Numerous complaints of a characteristic type often follow head injury, and plaintiffs have to convince the court that these complaints represent a genuine disability, and do not emanate from expectations of compensation. There are arguments for an organic basis to many complaints; however, these are subtle and technically complex creating difficulties in pursuing a successful claim in law. The situation is reviewed and the conclusion is drawn that complaints are often justified on the basis of organic pathology, and that an unduly dismissive attitude is probably adopted towards the psychiatric sequelae of head injury.