Post concussional syndrome: all in the minds eye!
- Correspondence to: Professor Rodger L Wood School of Human Sciences, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK; r.l.wood{at}swansea.ac.uk
Patients’ perceptions of their illness early after head injury may play a part in the persistence of post concussional syndrome
Minor head injury (concussion) is one of the most common neurological conditions seen in accident and emergency departments. Post concussional symptoms usually resolve within 3 months but in approximately 15% of cases, symptoms persist and evolve into a post concussional syndrome (PCS). PCS is a condition that can exist for many years, involve a range of social and health care professionals, representing both an emotional burden on relatives as well as a major socioeconomic burden.
The often sterile debate, polarising around the psychological versus organic aetiology of PCS, is being replaced by a multifactorial perspective, integrating biological, social, cognitive, affective and behavioural factors.1 An important theme …
