Earlier i was driving on the highway, and a deer walked out right in front of my car. Reflex immediately took over and i slammed on my brakes and swerved around it into the other lane. I know you’re not supposed to do that, but subconsciously i think i remembered when i hit a deer (january of this year) and the concussion i suffered from it. It wasn’t really bad, and my dr said there’s a possibility that it was just whiplash, but i’m a hypochondriac and i was in mental anguish for a few weeks following the incident.

Anyways, what i would like to know is this. Is it possible to sustain a concussion from driving over 60 mph, slamming on my brakes and then swerving around something without ever coming to a stop? I looked it up and i keep seeing contradicting answers from various people and websites. I’m super anxious that i might have given myself a concussion from this. Sorry for the wall of text.

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Welcome dj222. Someone will be along.

Welcome to the NeuroTalk Support Groups.

It would be more likely that you would sustain a concussion if you swerved to miss the deer and you left the road and hit a tree. Some NFL player did that once I read. Everson Griffen. It's not the same scenerio.

I remember being a passenger on a rather icy road high in mountainous western Canada on a dark rainy afternoon and the next moment a huge beast of a deer jumped out in front of the car. I'd never seen one before so that was a fright in itself let alone falling off a cliff or killing the poor animal.

It was a mountainous area and the road not very wide and on one side was a cliff face going up and the other side a cliff face going down. It was a very frightening situation but handled extremely well by my friend the driver. Fear factor huge. Still haven't forgotten it.

If you're feeling ok but very stressed about what happened and in light of it having happened once before, then it's something your mind is going to need to work though.

If you have a stiff neck from jerking it or even just tensing up as the incident happened then treat that or go get some work done on that, but don't pull up every scary story you can about deer and concussions, because none of them will be the same and it just won't help you at all.

Think of it as a frightening incident and if you do have any physical ailments from it, then look after that. Try not to ruminate about what could have happened or when it'll happen again.

take care.

Good book. "The Imp of the Mind". Worth reading if you find yourself having obsessive thoughts or ruminations affecting your life.

dj222,

The people who suffer concussions and TBIs in vehicular COLLISIONS smashed their heads into solid objects.

It take a 4.5 G impact to cause whiplash. It takes 60 to 80 Gs to cause a concussion. BTW, Whiplash causes the same symptoms as a concussion except for distrurbed mental functions. Anxiety can cause disturbed mental functions.

I seriously doubt you got a concussion hitting a deer unless if can through your windshield at high speed and hit your head.

No car made can cause more than 1.7 Gs by braking or swerving.