Brain Injury Awareness
Redesigning Lives to Achieve Maximum Potential
Mental Health, Addiction & Brain Injury
Did you know? Brain injury is a leading cause of homelessness, mental health issues, high-risk substance use and addictions. These social issues are overspreading our cities and placing a massive strain on our medical and emergency services budget.
Surviving the Perfect Storm: Mental Health, Addictions & Brain Injury shows a clear link between these three issues. The stats of brain injury continue to rise at an alarming rate, and the escalating costs to handle the ripple effects are far-reaching. The current economic burden of acquired brain injury, combined with treatment, is $12.7 billion annually (Northern Brain Injury Association). We are already spending money on acute care, emergency services, policing, and prisons. If we address the three issues together, we can reduce the burden on taxpayers. It’s a matter of whether we pay now or pay later.
In many cases, persons living with brain injury may experience depression and anxiety, which could lead to drug and alcohol overuse as coping mechanisms. Due to inadequate support systems in the current health initiatives, those suffering have relied on family and friends. A survivor of brain injury has a 200% greater chance of struggling with addictions, and without proper services and support, the risk of suicide increases to 400%.
The Mental Health Commission recently released the National Final Report on Housing First1 and identified that 66% of the participants in the study had sustained one or more traumatic brain injuries involving unconsciousness (p16). A Toronto-based study found that 52% of the homeless have suffered a brain injury and upwards of 69% of that group became homeless after their first brain injury.2
The rising number of incidents and associated costs are both staggering and frightening.
Brain injury is a major crisis in Canada. There are over 1 million Canadians living with the outcome of a brain injury. The incidence and prevalence of brain injury surpass HIV/Aids, Spinal Cord Injury, Breast Cancer and Multiple Sclerosis combined.
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