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Support Groups and Information

TBI:The Invisible Injury - An Important Fact Sheet for Returning Service members and Veterans: Click Here (pdf)

A Word About Blast Injuries

Blast injuries are injuries that result from the complex pressure wave generated by an explosion. This causes an instantaneous rise in pressure over atmospheric pressure that creates a blast over-pressurization wave. Blast injury occurs from the body’s interaction with the over-pressurization wave. Air-filled organs such as the ear, lung, and gastrointestinal tract and organs surrounded by fluid-filled cavities such as the brain and spinal cord are especially susceptible to primary blast injury.

Over 90% of combat-related traumatic brain injuries are closed head injuries. 50% of injuries sustained in combat are the result of explosive munitions including bombs, grenades, land mines, missiles and mortar/artillery shells.

Brain Injury can cause a wide range of changes affecting thinking, sensation, language, or emotions such as:

Thinking- memory, concentration, slower thinking and reasoning.
Sensation- touch, taste, sight, hearing and smell.
Language- communication, expression, and understanding.
Emotion- depression, anxiety, personality changes, aggression, irritability, mood swings.
TBI can also cause seizure disorders, sleep disturbances, headaches, loss of balance, blurred vision, ringing in ears, and fatigue.

Support Info

Are you new to traumatic brain injury in South Carolina? Download this listing of useful SC resources by Clicking Here

Support Groups

Aiken: Support Group CSRA Dream Catchers “Central Savannah River Area”
Website: www.csradreamcatchers.com
Vincent Village in North Augusta in the club house,
218 West Five Notch Rd North
Augusta SC 29841
Meeting Time: 1st Monday of each month, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Contact Person: Les Paul Morgan; Email: mycometpatrol@bellsouth.net
Phone: 866-793-3407 or 803-279-9611
Contact Person: Cyndy Milstead-Anzek
Phone: 803-279-9611; Email: cmilstead@waltonoptions.org

Meeting Place #2: Walton West
1355 Independence Drive
Augusta, GA
Meeting Time: 2nd Thursday of each month, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Contact Person: Les Paul Morgan
Phone: 866-492-5866; Email: mycometpatrol@bellsouth.net

Anderson, Oconee, Pickens (AOP) Brain Injury Support Group
http://aoptbi.weebly.com
Meeting Place: Anderson County Disabilities and Special Needs Board
212 McGee Road
Anderson, SC
Meeting time: 2nd Monday of each month, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Contact Person: Candy Jones
Phone: 864-260-4529; Email: candyjones@acdsnb.org

Beaufort Brain Injury Support Group
Meeting Place: Baptist Church of Beaufort
600 Charles Street, Green Room Entrance, Rm. 101A
Beaufort, SC 29902
Meeting Time: 3rd Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Contact Person: Robert Easter; Email: annbobinsc@aol.com
Phone: 843-441-6219

Brain Injury Support Group of the Grand Strand (Conway/Myrtle Beach area)
Meeting Place: HASCI (Head and Spinal Cord Injury) New Horizon Center
1021 3rd Avenue
Conway, SC
Meeting Time: 3rd Thursday of each month, 12 noon (pot luck lunch & meeting)
Contact Person: Ellen Leftwich
Phone: 843-488-1309 or 843-349-7250; Email: leftwich@sccoast.net

Brain Matters Support Group (Greenwood area)
Meeting Place: Burton Center
2605 Hwy. 72/221 East
Greenwood, SC 29649
Meeting Time: 3rd Thursday of each month, 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Contact Person: Kristy Lawson
Phone: 864-942-7124; Email: klawson@burtoncenter.org
Contact Person: Art Kirkland
Phone: 864-330-1800; Email: artkirkland@ernesthealth.com

Columbia Brain Injury Support Group
Meeting Place: HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital
2935 Colonial Drive
Columbia, SC
Meeting Time: 1st Thursday of each month, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Contact Person: Rafe Ellisor
Phone: 803-401-1365; Email: Rafe.Ellisor@healthsouth.com

Dorn VA Medical Center TBI Support Group
(for veterans with TBI and their family members)
Meeting Place: Veterans Administration Medical Center
Building 100
Rehab Dept. (Basement) Room LB148
6439 Garners Ferry Road
Columbia, SC
Meeting time: 4thThursday of each month, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
Contact Person: Tasha Davis
Phone: 803-776-4000 ext.5724

Greenville Brain Injury Support Group
Meeting Place: HASCI (Head and Spinal Cord Injury) Resource Center
Greenville County Disabilities and Special Needs Board
McAlister Square, Suite B-6
225 S. Pleasantburg Drive
Greenville, S.C.
Meeting Time: 1st Tuesday of most months, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Contact Person: Anne and Richard Medlock
Phone: 864-230-7821 and 864-230-7820; Email: upstatetbi@gmail.com

Hartsville Brain Injury Support Group
Meeting Place: Hartsville Memorial Library
147 W. College Avenue
Hartsville, SC
Meeting Time: 2nd Tuesday of each month, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Contact Person: Danny Weaver
Phone: 843-383-5585; Email: weav2206@bellsouth.net

Rock Hill Brain Injury Support Group
Meeting Place: HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital
1795 Frank Gaston Blvd.
Rock Hill, SC
Meeting Time: 1st Thursday of each month, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Contact Person: Kelli Schoen
Phone: 803-517-9813; Email: yenyang40@gmail.com

Spartanburg-Lyman Brain Injury Support Group
Meeting Place: Bryant Center
SC Vocational Rehabilitation Department
180 Groce Road
Lyman, SC
Meeting Time: 2nd Tuesday of each month, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Contact Person: Tanya Lambert; Email: tlambert1@scvrd.state.sc.us
Phone: 864-249-8048 or 864-249-8030
Contact person: January Garrity
Phone: 864-472-7451

Trident Head Injury Support Group (Charleston area)
Meeting Place: HASCI Community Opportunities Drop-in Center
Westwood Plaza, 1812 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., Suite 6
Charleston, SC
Meeting Time: 1st Tuesday of each month, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Contact: Marsha Mikell
Phone: 843-881-1214; Email: marshamikell@att.net
Contact Person: Colin DiResta
Phone: 843-852-5550

Why Attend a Support Group Meeting?

The purpose of a support group is to learn more about brain injury and available services by meeting with others who are facing or have faced similar challenges. The essential elements of a support group are:

Gather information
Share common needs and strengths
Provide a place to meet new friends and find new connections in the community
Provide a safe place to find courage and take risks
Provide an opportunity to socialize
Provide and environment where positive and negative views can be expressed without being judged

TBI Facts

The Silent Epidemic

Traumatic Brain Injury in South Carolina

#1 Cause of Death for Persons Ages 1 to 44 Years

61,000 South Carolinians Have TBI-related Disability

61,000 residents live with permanent disability due to TBI after being discharged alive from hospitals with TBI. TBI related disabilities include physical, cognitive, and behavioral limitations. Imagine sitting in the end zone at the University of South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium or Clemson Memorial Stadium for a football game. It would take 3 out of every 4 seats (76%) to accommodate these TBI residents...

To illustrate the magnitude of death related to TBI in South Carolina, in 2006, for ages 1 to 44 years, 598 persons died from TBI. For the same ages and same year, 322 persons died from cancer and 345 persons died from heart-related diseases.

Causes of TBI in South Carolina:

Falls: 28%
Motor vehicle crashes: 23%
Struck by/against events: 8%
Assaults: 10%

Each year in South Carolina:

Over 1,300 people will sustain a life long TBI related disability
Approximately 1000 people of all ages die as a result of TBI
TBI continues to rank as the number one cause of death for people ages 1 to 44 years
Approximately 3,000 people with new TBI are hospitalized and discharged alive from hospitals
12,000 people with new TBI are treated and released from Emergency Departments (ED)
Societal willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimate accounting for direct and indirect cost for SC is $3 billion
(Economists refer to WTP as intangibles. Example - the value lost for an avid worker because of losing his/her abilities to do the job)

To download this info in PDF format CLICK HERE

Data herein obtained in part from the Division of Injury & Violence Prevention, S.C. Department of Health & Environmental Control; Department of Biometry & Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina; and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

National TBI Facts and Statistics

What is a traumatic brain injury?

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of such an injury may range from "mild," i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to "severe," i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. A TBI can result in short or long-term problems with independent function.

How many people have TBI?

Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:

50,000 die;
235,000 are hospitalized; and
1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department.1
The number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency department or who receive no care is unknown.

What causes TBI?

The leading causes of TBI are:

Falls (28%);
Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (20%);
Struck by/against (19%); and
Assaults (11%).1
Blasts are a leading cause of TBI for active duty military personnel in war zones.2

Who is at highest risk for TBI?

Males are about 1.5 times as likely as females to sustain a TBI.1
The two age groups at highest risk for TBI are 0 to 4 year olds and 15 to 19 year olds.1
Certain military duties (e.g., paratrooper) increase the risk of sustaining a TBI.3
African Americans have the highest death rate from TBI.1

What are the costs of TBI?

Direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost productivity of TBI totaled an estimated $60 billion in the United States in 1995.4

What are the long-term consequences of TBI?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 3.17 Million Americans currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI.5

According to one study, about 40% of those hospitalized with a TBI had at least one unmet need for services one year after their injury. The most frequent unmet needs were:

Improving memory and problem solving;
Managing stress and emotional upsets;
Controlling one's temper; and
Improving one's job skills.6

TBI can cause a wide range of functional changes affecting thinking, language, learning, emotions, behavior, and/or sensation. It can also cause epilepsy and increase the risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other brain disorders that become more prevalent with age.7,8

References

1. Langlois JA, Rutland-Brown W, Thomas KE. Traumatic brain injury in the United States:
emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2006.

2. Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC). [unpublished]. Washington (DC): U.S. Department of Defense; 2005.

3. Ivins BJ, Schwab K, Warden D, Harvey S, Hoilien M, Powell J, et al. Traumatic brain injury in U.S. army
paratroopers: prevalence and character. Journal of Trauma Injury, Infection and Critical Care 2003;55(4):
617-21.

4. Finkelstein E, Corso P, Miller T and associates. The Incidence and Economic Burden of Injuries in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

5. Thurman D, Alverson C, Dunn K, Guerrero J, Sniezek J. Traumatic brain injury in the United States: a public
health perspective. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 1999;14(6):602-15.

6. Corrigan JD, Whiteneck G, Mellick D. Perceived needs following traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 2004;19(3):205-16.

7. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Traumatic brain injury: hope through research.
Bethesda (MD): National Institutes of Health; 2002 Feb. NIH Publication No. 02-158. Available from: www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/detail_tbi.htm.

8. Ylvisaker M, Todis B, Glang A, et al. Educating students with TBI: themes and recommendations.
Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 2001; 16:76-93.