[jinga]

Hi everyone,

Has anyone out there gone through an independent psychological exam after a TBI? I am scheduled for one soon and accident was 7months ago. I did undergo one on my own which was administerd by a therapist. I am still having cognitive issues related to the accident as well as other depression type symptoms that are escalating since this all happened. I would like to know what to expect.

[Mark in Idaho]

It sounds like you are scheduled for an Independent Medical Examiner to administer a NeuroPsychological Assessment (NPA).

There can be some pitfalls with this. Are you represented by an attorney? It can be important for an knowledgeable attorney to consider the scope of the exam and discuss the exam with you.

An NPA can be a busy/fatiguing day. If it is and you feel overwhelmed, do the best you can to just endure the NPA. Some can be as short as 45 minutes. A full NPA can take more than a day. Or, anything in between.

Do not try to prepare. You want to be in your normal symptomatic condition. In fact, if you struggle to get good sleep the night before, that will help your symptoms to manifest.

The only thing that is important for you to understand is simple. Do not try to exaggerate your symptoms. Be consistent with your effort and let your fatigue show through. There are tests within the tests to check for validity/malingering. As the saying goes, Let the chips fall where they may. High validity scores will mean your symptoms need to be considered as real.

If you need some more info on NPA's, There is some information on www.tbilaw.com and/or www.subtlebraininjury.com

Your attorney should check out this information for you if possible.

My best to you.