TBI and Mental Health: Understanding the Link and Your Recovery Options

Concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are well known for causing physical and cognitive impairments, but their impact on mental health is often overlooked. The connection between TBI and mental health can be profound, affecting mood, behavior, and overall quality of life long after the initial injury. 

Each year in the U.S., an estimated 2.8 million people sustain a TBI  from falls, motor vehicle accidents, contact sports, and other incidents. Dubbed a “silent epidemic,” people of all ages are at risk for TBIs. Brain injuries can disrupt the brain’s ability to regulate emotions, leading to issues like anxiety, depression, mood swings, and other challenges.  Even mild TBIs (what we consider a concussion) can trigger lasting emotional and psychological symptoms left untreated. 

Fortunately, innovative and holistic therapeutic medical programs that use hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) show promise in alleviating behavioral and emotional symptoms. A large body of research shows the effectiveness of HBOT in improving brain function and quality of life in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion, patients suffering from chronic neurocognitive impairments. 

 

 

How TBI and Mental Health are Connected

According to the CDC, mental health is essential to overall health and includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

The CDC says that mental health:

• Affects how people think, feel, and act.
• Helps determine how people handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. 
• Influences our susceptibility to chronic conditions
• Is “important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.”

A TBI or concussion can impact areas of the brain that regulate behavior and emotion (i.e., the frontal lobes). People suffering from a TBI can experience behavioral and emotional challenges. 

If these TBI mental health issues are not addressed promptly, they may exacerbate over time. For example, someone having trouble remembering or following conversations may become frustrated and depressed. When a TBI or post-concussion syndrome strips away these small capabilities we take for granted, it can take a toll on our mental health. 

Behavioral and emotional symptoms that can emerge after a TBI include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Mood swings
• Irritability
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Brain fog
• Apathy

Research on TBI and Mental Health Challenges

Research points to a connection between brain injury and mental health disorders:

• A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study published in JAMA Psychiatry revealed just how common mental health disorders are following a mild head injury. Approximately one in five individuals may experience mental health symptoms up to six months after a mild TBI.
• Children are also susceptible to TBI-related mental health challenges. One study found that young people with pediatric acquired brain injury (pABI) are twice as likely to develop a mood disorder as their peers and, as adults, are twice as likely to use adult mental health services.
• Another study found that people who have sustained an mTBI are three times more likely to experience depression than those without a history of mTBI. Researchers noted that this risk remains decades after the concussion (mTBI).

TBI Recovery at Aviv Clinics?

You’ll find the world’s most innovative treatment program for improving the cognitive, physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of TBI at Aviv Clinics.

At Aviv, concussion and TBI survivors will benefit from: 

• A personalized medical treatment program 
• A team approach to care
• Innovative treatment protocols backed by science
• Cutting-edge technology

Personalized Treatment for TBI and Mental Health Symptoms

Aviv Clinics takes a unique, holistic mind/body approach to post-concussion syndrome and TBI rehabilitation with a multidisciplinary medical care program. Our program entails three parts: 

1. Assessment: When clients come to Aviv, we can conduct an in-depth evaluation of their physical, neurological, and cognitive condition to ensure they qualify for the Aviv Medical Program. This may include cognitive assessments, high-definition brain imaging, physical evaluations, and more.
2. Treatment: For those who are a fit, the next step is for our team of licensed clinicians to prepare a personalized treatment plan. The program can incorporate various therapies, including a robust HBOT treatment schedule combined with personal cognitive training, physiotherapy, and nutritional coaching.
3. Analysis: At your request, once the program is complete, we can perform a comprehensive post-treatment evaluation. This enables us to measure improvements empirically and make recommendations for ongoing progress.

Collaborative Care for TBI and Mental Health Recovery

Our team of physicians, clinical program managers, physiotherapists, nurses, clinical psychologists, and nutrition specialists collaborates to provide the care patients need for the best health outcomes. 

This coordinated patient-centered approach helps ensure the quality, safety, and reliability of care. Perhaps most important, 96% of our clients experience clinically verifiable improvements in brain function after the Aviv Medical Program.

Science-Backed Therapies for TBI and Mental Health

The innovative Aviv Medical Program is based on dozens of high-quality clinical studies over nearly two decades of research.

These studies provide documented evidence of the effective use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help people suffering from traumatic brain injuries, regardless of the severity of their condition. 

Research suggests the Aviv HBOT protocol: 

• Improves neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to adapt in response to an injury or disease
• Activates neurogenesis, the regeneration of nerve cells in the brain 
• Initiates angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels in the brain and body
• Promotes improvements in mental health, such as decreased depression

The carefully regulated oxygen and pressure levels in HBOT help to oxygenate damaged tissue. This treatment ultimately encourages those tissues to regenerate and heal faster, improving chronic impairments in patients with post-concussion syndrome and TBIs. This can be effective even with brain injuries that are many years old.

A series of additional clinical trials demonstrates the efficacy of HBOT as a therapeutic intervention for many conditions, including stroke, fibromyalgia, long COVID symptoms, and a host of other conditions. 

Aviv Clinics replicate the same HBOT protocols used in these clinical trials and administer them under the same strict conditions. 

This evidence-based treatment protocol is unique to Aviv Clinics and is performed at our medical facility by trained physicians. They’re not the same treatments delivered at oxygen spas and pods.

Advanced Technology to Support TBI and Mental Health Healing

At Aviv Clinics, patients have access to cutting-edge technology designed to help improve the cognitive, physical, and emotional/behavioral symptoms of TBI and concussion. Aviv’s spacious HBOT suite is the most technologically advanced and comfortable chamber available. These suites feel more like a first-class airplane cabin than a treatment chamber at a medical facility. It provides an exceptional, safe experience for patients as they participate in every HBOT session with a qualified member of our medical team.

Begin Your TBI Treatment Journey With Aviv Clinics 

Understanding how TBI affects mental health is a critical first step toward effective treatment. Patients don’t have to continue suffering from the “invisible illness” that is TBI. If you or a loved one is experiencing cognitive, physical, or behavioral symptoms after a TBI, contact us today to find out how we can help.

 

 

Last update: August 10, 2025