How Your Concussion Happened Determines Its Severity and Case Value

How Your Concussion Happened Determines Its Severity and Case Value

New research confirms that car crashes, falls, and violent assaults produce more damaging, longer-lasting concussions than sports injuries. Here’s what that means for your health and your legal rights in Georgia.

• 30%of adults experience persisting symptoms after concussion
• 2×higher odds of persistent symptoms from a car crash vs. other mechanisms
• 592K+patients studied in the landmark 2025 meta-analysis on concussion outcomes
• 3×higher odds of persistent symptoms if you had trouble concentrating acutely

The Science Has Changed — And So Has the Law Around Concussion Claims

For decades, the medical community operated on a simple assumption: a concussion is a concussion. Whether you hit your head playing football or were thrown forward in a car crash, the injury and recovery process were considered roughly the same.

That assumption is now medically outdated — and the implications for personal injury victims are significant.

A landmark 2025 meta-analysis published in JAMA Network Open (McIntosh et al.) analyzed 15 studies covering 592,406 adults with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The findings are unambiguous: the mechanism of your concussion — how it happened — meaningfully changes the likelihood and severity of long-term symptoms.

If your concussion resulted from a motor vehicle crash, a fall, or a violent assault, you are at substantially higher risk of persistent, disabling symptoms than someone who suffered a sports-related concussion. At Haug Barron Law Group, we believe every Georgia injury victim deserves to understand this science — and to have it working for them in their legal case.

“Motor vehicle collision mechanism was associated with more than twice the odds of persistent post-concussion symptoms at one month compared to other mechanisms.”

— McIntosh et al., JAMA Network Open, 2025 (AOR 2.02, 95% CI 1.26–3.25)

What Are “Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms”?

A concussion can cause a wide range of symptoms — headaches, dizziness, cognitive fog, irritability, sleep disruption, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating. For many people, these resolve within days or a few weeks. But for a significant and often underappreciated portion of patients, symptoms persist for months or even years.

This condition is known as persistent post-concussion symptoms (PSCS) or post-concussion syndrome. It can interfere with the ability to work, drive, maintain relationships, and perform the basic tasks of daily life. Yet it is frequently minimized by insurers, employers, and even some medical providers who cling to the outdated idea that concussions are always minor and brief.

Key Finding: Up to 30% of adults who suffer a concussion will experience persisting symptoms beyond the expected recovery window. For those injured in motor vehicle crashes, that risk is at least twice as high as the general concussion population.

Why Car Crash Concussions Are Different

Motor vehicle collisions are not just another way to hit your head. They involve a complex “bundle” of injury forces and stressors that amplify both the severity and the duration of concussion symptoms. Research now identifies several reasons why MVC concussions are medically distinct:

Greater Physical Forces

Car crashes expose the brain to rapid acceleration-deceleration forces far exceeding what occurs in most sports injuries. The brain is essentially thrown against the inside of the skull, often multiple times, in ways that can cause microscopic damage to neural pathways that standard imaging will not detect.

Cervical (Neck) Injury

Whiplash and cervical spine injury frequently accompany MVC concussions. Neck pain, nerve irritation, and vestibular dysfunction from cervical injury can independently sustain and amplify concussion symptoms — creating a cycle that is difficult to break without targeted, multi-modal treatment.

Psychological Trauma and Acute Stress

Car crashes are frightening, sudden, and often involve threat to life. The acute psychological shock can trigger anxiety, hypervigilance, and even PTSD-spectrum responses, all of which are strongly associated with prolonged symptom duration. Research confirms that pre-existing or crash-triggered anxiety and depression can nearly triple the odds of persistent symptoms at three months post-injury.

Pain as an Amplifier

Concurrent pain from back injuries, rib fractures, soft tissue damage, and other crash injuries creates a physiological environment where concussion symptoms are harder to disentangle and harder to resolve. Pain signals interact with the nervous system in ways that sustain headache, cognitive fog, and fatigue.

Delayed Presentation

Crash victims often seek care at emergency departments focused on ruling out life-threatening injuries, not on nuanced concussion assessment. Concussion may be underdiagnosed or under-documented at first presentation, delaying appropriate treatment and allowing early-intervention windows to close.

⚠️ Insurance companies know this research exists — and they count on you not knowing it. When adjusters argue that your concussion should have resolved in two weeks because “most concussions do,” they are relying on outdated science and an incomplete picture of your injury. The 2025 data says otherwise.

Car Crash Concussions Produce More Emotional Symptoms — Even When Objective Tests Look Normal

One of the most important — and most legally relevant — findings in recent concussion research comes from Shumski et al. (2023/2025), which directly compared young adults who suffered concussions in motor vehicle crashes versus sports settings.

The results were striking: MVC concussion patients reported a significantly higher total number of symptoms and significantly more severe emotional and affective symptoms (irritability, sadness, emotional lability, anxiety) — even though objective balance testing (BESS) and neurocognitive performance testing showed no significant differences between the groups.

“MVC concussions often produce a higher total symptom burden and more severe affective symptoms than sport-related concussions, even when objective balance and neurocognitive testing look similar.”

— Shumski et al., Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 2025

This finding has profound implications for injury claims. It means:

• Subjective symptoms are real and scientifically validated — even when MRI, CT, and neurocognitive tests come back “normal.”
• Defense arguments that rely solely on “clean” objective test results to dismiss symptom complaints are based on an outdated and incomplete understanding of MVC concussion.
• Emotional suffering, mood changes, and psychological distress after a crash concussion are medically expected and legally compensable components of your damages.

Assault and Fall-Related Concussions: A Different Kind of Complexity

While motor vehicle crashes receive the most attention in concussion research, falls and assault-related head injuries carry their own serious risk profiles.

Falls

Falls — whether from heights, on unsafe surfaces, or due to trip hazards — can produce significant rotational brain forces and are a leading cause of TBI in all age groups. Older adults are particularly vulnerable, but fall-related concussions in all populations are associated with increased symptom burden compared to sports mechanisms, particularly when the fall involves substantial impact forces or loss of consciousness.

Assault and Abuse-Related Injuries

Concussions resulting from violence — including intimate partner violence and assault — represent a medically and legally distinct category. Research by Karr et al. (2024) documents that women who suffer head injuries from intimate partner violence show significant and persistent post-concussion symptoms. These injuries often involve:

• Repeated sub-threshold impacts that accumulate over time
• Significant psychological trauma and PTSD comorbidity
• Barriers to medical care and documentation
• Distinct comorbidity patterns requiring trauma-informed care approaches

At Haug Barron Law Group, we handle these cases with the sensitivity and rigor they require. Every injury victim — regardless of how their concussion happened — deserves full compensation for their suffering.

What This Means If You Have a Pending Injury Claim

Whether your injury occurred in a car accident, a slip and fall, or as the result of someone else’s violence or negligence, the mechanism of your concussion is not just a medical detail — it is a legally significant fact that affects the value of your claim.

Here is what experienced plaintiff’s attorneys at Haug Barron Law Group will do with this research:

Document the Mechanism in Detail

Crash reports, surveillance video, witness statements, and medical records are used to establish precisely how your injury occurred and what forces were involved. The mechanism of injury is the foundation of demonstrating why your symptoms are medically expected to be severe and prolonged.

Counter “It Should Be Better By Now” Arguments

Insurance defense teams frequently argue that concussion symptoms lasting more than a few weeks are exaggerated, psychosomatic, or unrelated to the crash. Armed with the McIntosh et al. meta-analysis and the Shumski findings, we can put peer-reviewed evidence in front of adjusters, defense experts, and juries to establish that persistent symptoms are expected in your case — not exceptional.

Quantify the Full Scope of Damages

When you understand that MVC concussions produce greater emotional suffering, higher total symptom burden, and longer recovery trajectories, the damages picture expands. Lost wages, diminished earning capacity, costs of ongoing medical care, and non-economic damages for pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life are all directly supported by this science.

Connect You with the Right Medical Experts

Proper diagnosis and treatment of MVC concussion often requires a multidisciplinary team: neurologists, vestibular therapists, pain specialists, neuropsychologists, and behavioral health providers. We work to ensure your medical team is documenting your injuries thoroughly — both because it supports your recovery and because comprehensive medical records are essential to a strong legal case.

Do not accept a settlement before you understand the full extent of your injury. Persistent post-concussion symptoms can take months to fully manifest and diagnose. Settling too early — before your prognosis is clear — can leave you without compensation for ongoing medical care, lost income, and future suffering. Contact Haug Barron Law Group before you sign anything.

Warning Signs Your Concussion May Have Long-Term Consequences

Based on the current medical evidence, you should seek immediate legal consultation if you experienced a concussion in a car crash, fall, or assault and are noticing any of the following:

• Headaches that haven’t resolved or are worsening after 3–4 weeks
• Difficulty concentrating, memory gaps, or “brain fog”
• Sleep disruption — either insomnia or hypersomnia
• Increased irritability, mood swings, or emotional sensitivity
• Dizziness, balance problems, or sensitivity to light and noise
• Anxiety, depression, or PTSD symptoms following the incident
• Difficulty returning to work or completing everyday tasks
• Neck pain or vestibular symptoms alongside head pain

The 2025 meta-analysis found that difficulty concentrating acutely after injury was associated with more than three times the odds of persistent symptoms (AOR 3.12, 95% CI 1.43–6.82). If you experienced this symptom immediately after your injury, your case may involve significantly more long-term impact than a simple concussion claim.

The Bottom Line: Mechanism Is Evidence

The science is clear. How you were hurt changes your prognosis, your treatment needs, and the legitimate value of your injury claim. Motor vehicle crashes, serious falls, and violent assaults produce concussions that are medically distinct — more severe, more emotionally complex, and more likely to persist — than sports-related head injuries.

If you or a loved one has suffered a concussion in any of these circumstances and are dealing with ongoing symptoms, you deserve an attorney who understands this science and knows how to use it.

Haug Barron Law Group represents injury victims throughout Georgia in traumatic brain injury and concussion cases. Our team works with leading medical experts, stays current on the peer-reviewed literature, and fights to ensure that the true scope of your injury is fully reflected in your compensation.

Medical References & Further Reading

1. McIntosh SJ, Vergeer MH, Galarneau JM, Eliason PH, Debert CT. Factors associated with persisting symptoms after concussion in adults with mild traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(6):e2516619. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.16619
2. Shumski EJ, Anderson MN, Schmidt JD, Lynall RC. Motor vehicle crash concussion mechanism displays a greater total number of symptoms and greater affective symptom severity but no neurocognitive differences compared with sport-related concussion mechanism. Appl Neuropsychol Adult. 2025 Mar-Apr;32(2):538-544. doi:10.1080/23279095.2023.2190522
3. Lubbers VF, van den Hoven DJ, van der Naalt J, et al. Emergency department risk factors for post-concussion syndrome after mild traumatic brain injury: a systematic review. J Neurotrauma. 2024;41(11-12):1253-1270. doi:10.1089/neu.2023.0302
4. Karr JE, Iverson GL, Suhr JA, et al. Post-concussion symptoms in women with head injury due to intimate partner violence. J Neurotrauma. 2024;41(3-4):447-463.
5. Maas AIR, Menon DK, Adelson PD, et al. Traumatic brain injury: progress and challenges in prevention, clinical care, and research. Lancet Neurol. 2022;21(11):1004-1060. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(22)00309-X

Have questions about how a concussion impacts your claim?
Visit our Concussion & Traumatic Brain Injury FAQs to learn how diagnosis, symptoms, treatment timing, and long-term effects can influence the value of your case.

The cause and severity of a concussion can significantly impact both your recovery and the value of your claim. Contact Haug Barron Law Group to discuss your head injury case and protect your right to full compensation.