Most people don’t realize a concussion is a brain injury—a disconnect that can leave survivors isolated and dismissed. In our latest webinar, Is Concussion a Brain Injury?, we heard from people living with the truth about concussion every day—and the experts who are looking to bring even more awareness and advocacy about concussion to the forefront. The main takeaway from the conversation? Awareness is power—and it starts with honest discussions like these.

Watch the webinar below, or scroll on to read our summary of the event.

Is Concussion a Brain Injury?

If you ask most people whether a concussion is a brain injury, the answer you’ll hear might surprise you. According to a recent poll from the Brain Injury Association of America, 81% of adults don’t realize that a concussion is, in fact, a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

That eye-opening statistic set the stage for Concussion Awareness Now’s recent webinar, Is Concussion a Brain Injury? The webinar conversation brought together clinician and the Brain Injury Association of America Director of Outreach Programs, Kelly Sarmiento, as well as survivors Sarah Goody and Lindsay Simpson, who have turned their own concussion challenges into powerful advocacy platforms.

The result was an hour filled with hard truths, personal stories, and a clear call to action: to commit to starting the conversation by shifting the way we think and talk about concussion symptoms and care.

More Than “Mild”

When we talk about concussions, the word that often gets tossed around is mild. But as Kelly Sarmiento said, that label can be incredibly misleading. “The term ‘mild’ is a clinical classification—it means the injury usually isn’t life-threatening. But people should know the effects of a concussion aren’t always mild. They can be very serious, lasting months or even years.”

She also set the record straight on another well-worn myth: that concussions are mostly due to sports. “Falls are actually the leading cause, especially for younger kids and older adults. We also see many of them in car accidents, bike crashes, and even cases of intimate partner violence.”

And, because the brain does so much, concussion symptoms don’t follow a neat script. “Right after an injury, someone might feel sick, have a headache, or be sensitive to light,” Sarmiento said. “But a few days later, it can show up differently — trouble concentrating, feeling more tired, even sadness or anxiety. It’s part of the healing process, but it can be confusing.”

The Human Reality

Here’s the thing about concussion statistics—they’re important data, but they only go so far. To really understand concussion, you need to hear from the people living with it. Sarah Goody’s concussion journey started at 16, when a surfing accident left her trapped between a kayak and a board. “Immediately, the world went dark and blank,” Goody said. “I knew something was wrong.”

What doctors initially suggested would take a week to heal stretched into six months away from school—and it didn’t end there. Since that first accident, Goody has sustained five concussions in four years. Because every concussion leaves the brain more vulnerable, having had one makes you more likely to have another.

Each new injury has brought fresh challenges her way—especially now that she’s a college student. “Concussions and TBI have truly changed the course of my life,” Goody said. “Whether it’s walking to class and being scared of hitting my head on a door, or just waking up in the morning worried about what might happen—it impacts my everyday routines.”

Life after Impact

Lindsay Simpson, an Emmy Award–winning journalist and former collegiate soccer player, was no stranger to concussions, having experienced them a few times as an athlete. However, her most devastating concussion came years after she hung up her cleats.

In 2018, a 40-pound beam fell on her head at work. “It was diagnosed as a ‘mild’ concussion, but my reality was anything but mild,” she said. Simpson spent nearly a year unable to care for herself. Basic, everyday tasks—making coffee, driving, even booking her own doctor’s appointments—were impossible. “I had to completely and totally rely on my husband to pick up all the pieces and carry our lives forward.” Years later, the aftershocks of the concussion remain: double vision, memory lapses, fatigue, and a stutter that resurfaces under stress.

The hardest part wasn’t the symptoms. It was also the disbelief, most surprising from some of the medical professionals she consulted with initially. “You wouldn’t believe the number of things doctors tried to tell me were wrong with me,” Simpson said, “because it just didn’t seem conceivable that a mild TBI could cause years of debilitating symptoms. They were looking at the single incident with the beam, instead of bringing my concussion history into the conversation.” Her words echoed what fellow survivor Goody had already shared: concussions are often invisible, but the struggle is very real.

Diagnosis is Complex

Sarmiento said concussion diagnosis isn’t as straightforward as many assume. Doctors don’t rely on CT scans for routine cases, but instead look at balance, vision, and vestibular assessments, alongside what patients describe about their symptoms. That can be tricky, especially for certain populations: “Very young children may not be able to tell you how they’re feeling,” she said, “And, survivors of domestic violence might have overlapping PTSD symptoms that make diagnosis even more complex.”

The good news, she says, is that science is advancing. “There’s been huge growth in studies over the last decade,” she said. “We’re learning how to identify who needs emergency care, and who’s at risk for a prolonged recovery. The hope is that clearer testing will help us intervene earlier with support and treatments.”

And how we clinicians talk about concussion is also changing. A new classification model, known as CBI-M, moves beyond the old “mild, moderate, severe” categories. By looking at clinical signs, biomarkers, imaging, and personal factors like injury history, CBI-M aims to give providers a clearer picture—and survivors more validation that what they’re experiencing is real.

Awareness Saves Lives

The conversation turned from diagnosis to what happens next: awareness and prevention. Sarmiento pointed out that helmets can cut the risk of brain injury in half or more, yet adults—not kids—make up the highest rates of cycling-related concussions. It shows “we all need to be thinking about brain safety, no matter how old we are,” she said.

And awareness doesn’t stop at prevention. Both Simpson and Goody said that finding their voices and telling their stories publicly has been cathartic, even when it’s been hard. For Simpson, that means being honest about symptoms when they resurface. “For me, it’s my stutter,” she said. “I never had a stutter before my last head injury, and then I spent more than a year with a pretty significant stutter. And so when I start to get stressed out or my brain is not moving fast enough, the stutter comes back. That’s also okay, because it’s part of my story.”

Because of her advocacy, Goody has found community on her college campus as well as through writing essays for outlets like The Huffington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle. “The response that’s come from that has truly changed the way I see the concussion space and helped me connect with so many others,” she says. “When I started speaking up, I realized I wasn’t alone. That gave me hope.”

Reflection on Advocacy

As the webinar wrapped up, both survivors left the audience with messages of resilience and urgency. Goody talked about the importance of having someone in your corner to listen, saying her parents have been instrumental in her recovery. “Parents, you can make such a difference just by listening,” she said. “I don’t know if I’d be here without mine.”

“Every single one of these events creates a ripple effect,” Simpson said. “So even if you think your story doesn’t matter…if you’re only helping one person or two people, that is still huge. You’re still creating a change and a shift in the way that we talk about concussion. And I think that’s so incredibly important.”

Sarmiento reminded everyone that concussion prevention and storytelling go hand-in-hand. “I’ve seen firsthand the power of personal stories and how they can advance the concussion conversation. Sharing experiences is what has driven real change in prevention, research, and support.”

Every voice in the concussion conversation pushes us closer to a future where concussions are known as a brain injury, taken seriously, and treated with the care they deserve.