I’ve been roaming around online for a while, now, and I keep coming across more and more information about TBI, especially as it relates to returning Iraq Operation veterans. There’s a lot of vocal support for folks who came back from Iraq either in this present operation, or the one “way back when”.

The stories are heart-breaking and infuriating… as are other tales of TBI struggles (having to do with car accidents, falls, etc.)

But I’m finding that I can’t really devote a whole lot of time to other people’s stories, or I just get overwhelmed. I think that may be why there’s not a lot of consistent and persistent information from personal accounts online… people just get overwhelmed and literally have to stop all the connecting and research and what-not. Whether you’re a TBI survivor, or you’re a supporter, all that drama and emotion just gets to be too much.

Which is why I’m sticking as close to factual information as possible. The emotional toll that a TBI can take is tremendous, and those of us surviving often don’t have the resources to handle it all really effectively. I prefer to keep my emotional processing in the counseling sessions I attend regularly. I’m just not equipped to be really constructive with others in regards to that aspect of my life. And anyway, my faculties are sufficiently scrambled to keep me from knowing whether or not I’m truly being constructive.

So, I’ll stick with what facts I can… And hope that I’m not getting them turned around.

The fact is: TBI is a traumatic event and condition (hence the name “traumatic brain injury”). It changes you permanently, often in mysterious ways.

The fact is: TBI is survivable. I wouldn’t be as well-off as I am today, if that weren’t true. You can go through hell and back and come out better than before, in some ways. In other ways, you may never “recover,” but those ways are often replaceable or weren’t very healthy to begin with. It takes time, but the mysteries of TBI reveal much about ourselves that we would never otherwise discover. And that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

TBI forced me to fend for myself. To provide for myself. To communicate with myself. To advocate for myself. TBI forced me to look deep within and find resources I never would have bothered to find, if I’d been able to look to others to meet my needs. TBI turned me into the person I am today, and my dear friends and family members are fine with me, just as I am. It took me from the ordinary to the extra-ordinary. And that can’t be a bad thing.

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