---
title: Casualties Unknown Brain Damage: Causes, Effects, Cures
description: What causes brain damage, what the symptoms mean and how to recover from it.
url: https://casualtieswiki.wiki/health/brain-damage/
---

Health

# Casualties Unknown brain damage guide
From hit to recovery

- 1 **Cause**Sound cannons, coils, strokes, head trauma, gunshots

- 2 **Symptoms**Slurred speech, distorted vision, strange movement

- 3 **Remove the cause**Stop the stroke, get out of the sound cannon's line

- 4 **Treat**Braingrow, then rest

_Causes and treatments reported in recordings and official patch notes. Recovery speeds are not officially published._

**Short answer:** Casualties Unknown brain damage lowers consciousness, distorts your senses and can reverse your controls. It comes from sound cannons, coils, strokes and head wounds. Braingrow is the main treatment, and it heals slowly on its own. The full game makes it less punishing than the demo. reported

The health panel’s top row shows brain health as a bar with a number. An official screenshot shows it at 94. confirmed When that value runs out, your character dies, so keep an eye on it, especially after explosions or falls.

## What causes brain damage in Casualties Unknown?

| Cause | Why it hurts | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sound cannon | Brain damage, hearing loss and internal bleeding when it hits | confirmed |
| Coil | Maximum pain in all limbs and loss of consciousness | confirmed |
| Stroke | Steady damage until it is stopped | reported |
| Head trauma | Falls and heavy hits | reported |
| Medicine | Mindwipe and overuse of brain drugs | reported |

Sound cannons are the most common source in the wasteland. If you are in water with one, the damage is far worse. confirmed See [enemies and traps](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/layers/enemies-and-traps/#sound-cannons) for how to dodge them.

## What does brain damage do?

Effects build up as brain health falls. Reported symptoms include the following. reported

- **Blurred or distorted vision**, harder to read at low brain health.

- **Slowed thinking**, reducing how alert your character stays.

- **Broken speech.** Text from your character gets duplicated letters, dashes and ellipses, as [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHbYEZbT2LE) explains. confirmed

- **Reversed controls.** A brain damage control reverse now shows an indicator by flipping your screen horizontally to match the movement, since 6.0. confirmed

- **Hearing loss**, when caused by sound.

The screen flip catches people out. If your movement suddenly goes backwards and the image is mirrored, the cause is brain damage rather than a bug.

## Is brain damage permanent in Casualties Unknown?

Not usually. Community pages describe slow natural healing, with Braingrow and similar drugs restoring more. unverified The developer says brain damage is “not as punishing” in the full game. confirmed Heavy damage still lingers for a long time, so it can cost you a run indirectly by reducing what you can do.

## How do you cure brain damage?

**Braingrow** is the main treatment, and players talk about carrying it for this reason. confirmed Be careful with stacking. Community pages warn that using multiple brain drugs in a short time carries serious risk, so read the [L.R.D., Braingrow and Mindwipe guide](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/items/lrd-braingrow-mindwipe/) before you drink anything. unverified

| Option | Effect | Availability |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Braingrow | Restores brain health and stops strokes | Loot and traders |
| Neural booster | Later-game medical item, can be crafted | Rare |
| Mindwipe | Used as a last resort in recordings, with major side effects | Loot |
| Rest | Slow natural recovery | Always |

## Does brain damage affect crafting or trading?

Reported effects include lower starting reputation with traders and worse overall function. unverified Because crafting relies on [Intelligence](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/items/crafting/), players with damage often feel it there too, although we could not verify an exact link. Expect mood to suffer too: a [sound cannon](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/layers/enemies-and-traps/#sound-cannons) makes you sadder as well as hurting you. confirmed

## How do you avoid brain damage in Casualties Unknown?

- **Take sound cannons seriously.** You get about five seconds. Dig or duck behind a solid wall.

- **Learn the coil.** It will not kill you, but you can pass out for long enough for something else to.

- **Wear head protection.** Crafted or found helmets give you a chance against falls, and head armor needs a carcass from a shade crawler. confirmed

- **Respect blood pressure.** See [heart and stroke](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/health/heart-and-stroke/) for what to do when you hit a hypertensive crisis.

- **Do not fight underwater near anything that explodes.**

## What should you do right after being hit?

Stop moving, open the health panel and check the brain bar, then look for a stroke marker. If you are also bleeding or dislocated, handle [bleeding](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/health/bleeding-and-blood/) first, because you can survive reduced brain health for longer than a serious bleed.

Do not panic-drink. Spending your only Braingrow on a small amount of damage leaves you nothing for a stroke. Players often keep it until there is an active stroke or a serious loss.

## Why does my character’s speech look strange?

That is an intended effect of brain damage and strokes. Your character’s words appear with repeated characters and pauses, and the same applies to some other severe conditions. If it starts suddenly and your bar is dropping, you may be having a stroke, so check for that first and use the [stroke treatment](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/health/heart-and-stroke/) if you can.

The 6.0 notes also say that being in a bad state changes moodles and dialogue. Learning to read these clues is especially useful if you play [unchipped](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/layers/run-settings-and-modifiers/), when numbers are hidden from you.

## Sources
Last checked 9 November 2026. Marks: confirmed = official notes, in-game text or a recording of the game; reported = two or more players; unverified = one source.

- [Oddities of Brain Damaged Dialogue by Milky Flairey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHbYEZbT2LE) · speech effects

- [In-Depth Guide: Traps and Hazards by Cameron Kane](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkH9emOCeNM&t=596s) · coils, sound cannons

- [Recording: stroke and Braingrow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlWEic3AhFY&t=1614s) · 26:54

- [September Progress Update, Steam](https://steamstore-a.akamaihd.net/news/externalpost/steam_community_announcements/1843481262704593)

- [v6.0 Patch Notes, Steam](https://steamstore-a.akamaihd.net/news/externalpost/steam_community_announcements/1830163047266090) · control reverse

- [7.0 Demo Update notes, Steam](https://steamstore-a.akamaihd.net/news/externalpost/steam_community_announcements/1834602721186794)

## More in Health

- [Limb damage How to fix shrapnel, dislocations and fractures, when to amputate and how prosthetics work.](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/health/limb-damage/)

- [Bleeding and blood How to bandage, which wound comes first, and how to treat internal bleeding and hemothorax.](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/health/bleeding-and-blood/)

- [Heart and stroke What causes strokes, fibrillation and cardiac arrest, and what actually treats them.](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/health/heart-and-stroke/)

- [Infection and radiation How infections start, how to clean and disinfect, how radiation builds up and how to treat it.](https://casualtieswiki.wiki/health/infection-and-radiation/)