A Patient with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: a Case Study

Patients aroused from a long -term coma after severe TBI often exhibit identity disorders, which are connected with discontinuity of the life story, and in consequence with the existence of two different autobiographies, one before and one after the accident. The research group included 4 women and 4 men (average age 26.7 years), aroused from a long-term coma (average 67.5 days). The methods used included clinical observation, clinical interview with the patient and his family, and the Multidimensional Identity Assessment Scale. The patients demonstrated little sense of their own identity, with a tendency towards identity diffusion, in consequence of having acquired features of deferred or mirror identity. 7 patients de monstrated disorders of time awareness, and one patient was fixated in the past. In the case of TBI patients aroused from a long-term coma there can be identity disturbances, including disorders of identity congruence, creating a false identity, and inadequate perception of reality, leading to social isolation.