The resulting brain damage caused a loss of 'impulse control,' turning her into a sex-crazed wild child -- and leading her to sex work, say the court documents, filed in British Colombia Supreme Court.
First off, it was a bit more than a bump on the head. Alissa's accident caused significant damage to her frontal lobe, which we all kind of need to operate as human beings. It controls motor function, judgement, impulse control, and the way we behave socially and sexually. So yes, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can change people's personalities on a dime. A 35-year Swedish study found a significant uptick in violent criminality among those who had suffered TBI (another study found that more than 20 percent of serial killers have such injuries in their past). More than half of TBI sufferers experience depression -- a rate eight times higher than among the general population.
Alissa was in that last group, and struggled with intense depression and anxiety in the wake of her accident. Of course, that's not what the press focused on during her lawsuit. Here's Cosmo's tasteful take:
Can a car accident lead you to Fifty Shades of Grey territory? That's what one lawsuit claims. An accident victim filed suit for damages in Canada, and one of the arguments was that her resulting brain damage led to her career as a dominatrix.
Each story asserted that Afonina was claiming her "bump" on the head took away her sense of reason and unleashed her basest carnal desires, wiping out her old personality altogether. That's a promising plot for an extremely high-concept porno, but not necessarily something that happens in the real world.
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