TBI S-O-S! Restoring a Sense-Of-Self after Brain Injury and Concussion
Brain injury recovery – a learning experience
We need better ideas about TBI / concussion recovery
Every single day, I become more and more convinced that, more than anything else, brain injury recovery is really an exercise in learning.
It’s learning to do things differently.
It’s learning to know yourself differently.
It’s learning new things about yourself.
It’s learning to NOT do things that have stopped working — or that never worked, to begin with.
I’ve been watching YouTube videos on neuroscience. Learning about synapses and neurons and the stuff that makes our brains (and central nervous systems) work.
Here’s a video that’s admittedly a bit “dense” in terms of science and terminology, but which I found quite interesting. Did I understand all the terms? No. But I think I got the underlying concepts.
I am a long-term multiple (mild) Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI or TBI) survivor who experienced assaults, falls, car accidents, sports-related injuries in the 1960s, '70s, '80s, and '90s. My last mild TBI was in 2004, but it was definitely the worst of the lot.
I never received medical treatment for my injuries, some of which were sports injuries (and you have to get back in the game!), but I have been living very successfully with cognitive/behavioral (social, emotional, functional) symptoms and complications since I was a young kid. I’ve done it so well, in fact, that virtually nobody knows that I sustained those injuries… and the folks who do know, haven’t fully realized just how it’s impacted my life.
It has impacted my life, however. In serious and debilitating ways. I’m coming out from behind the shields I’ve put up, in hopes of successfully addressing my own (invisible) challenges and helping others to see that sustaining a TBI is not the end of the world, and they can, in fact, live happy, fulfilled, productive lives in spite of it all.
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12 thoughts on “Brain injury recovery – a learning experience”
Fascinating stuff, neuroscience. When I first began reading – years ago now – I didn’t understand all of the terms either. But it becomes “less dense” the more you read. Still, we must figure out how to apply the info – and that has been the trickier proposition. Thanks for this post.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
– ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
“It takes a village to educate a world!”
Yes, we absolutely must learn how to apply that info. I can’t figure out why it’s not being done as much as it could be. I think the stigma and outdated ideas about brain injury are blocking us. Silly humans. Causing so much pain…
I agree brokenbrilliant. Brain Injury Recovery is an ongoing process. It just takes time. No substitute. A willingness to not give up and a commitment to keep moving forward — even when progress seems slow. Have a great day my friend. Keep up the good work you are doing Sir!!! Craig
Thank you Craig. You’re absolutely right – keep going, and keep learning, each and every day… and also get plenty of rest, to let it sink in. That’s how we grow.
What linger for me are the mid-day and complex-reading-material exhaustion, visual overload almost immediately when things are “dense,” poor sleeping/snoring (my injury included a broken nose), and truly awful impatience/ irritability/ cynicism (ongoing). The rest of my symptoms/problems are mostly better/almost back to my pre-injury state, now.
It’s been almost 2.5 years since the worst/most recent injury but I, too, had previously had numerous “small” injuries throughout my life (i’m 62) that weren’t treated or recognized as concussions (car and sports accidents, falls, etc.).
What I would be like without any of those injuries? No one knows. Even with them, I am way above-average intelligence and I’m getting my words back after many months of missing most of them. So it goes.
Good to hear that you’re on the mend. Irritability and impatience can really be a bear. Everything gets worse with fatigue. All those injuries we had earlier in life… I wonder sometimes if any of this would bother me now, if I hadn’t gotten “clocked” so many times before. But it is what it is, so … onward.
Broken Brain - Brilliant Mind 
Fascinating stuff, neuroscience. When I first began reading – years ago now – I didn’t understand all of the terms either. But it becomes “less dense” the more you read. Still, we must figure out how to apply the info – and that has been the trickier proposition. Thanks for this post.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
– ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
“It takes a village to educate a world!”
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Prctice, Practice, Practice….
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Indeed
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Yes, we absolutely must learn how to apply that info. I can’t figure out why it’s not being done as much as it could be. I think the stigma and outdated ideas about brain injury are blocking us. Silly humans. Causing so much pain…
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Not simply silly – ignorant. And I don’t understand how that can be possible in this day and age!
xx,
mgh
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Tell me about it. Really, very hurtful.
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I agree brokenbrilliant. Brain Injury Recovery is an ongoing process. It just takes time. No substitute. A willingness to not give up and a commitment to keep moving forward — even when progress seems slow. Have a great day my friend. Keep up the good work you are doing Sir!!! Craig
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Reblogged this on Kate McClelland.
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Thank you Craig. You’re absolutely right – keep going, and keep learning, each and every day… and also get plenty of rest, to let it sink in. That’s how we grow.
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What linger for me are the mid-day and complex-reading-material exhaustion, visual overload almost immediately when things are “dense,” poor sleeping/snoring (my injury included a broken nose), and truly awful impatience/ irritability/ cynicism (ongoing). The rest of my symptoms/problems are mostly better/almost back to my pre-injury state, now.
It’s been almost 2.5 years since the worst/most recent injury but I, too, had previously had numerous “small” injuries throughout my life (i’m 62) that weren’t treated or recognized as concussions (car and sports accidents, falls, etc.).
What I would be like without any of those injuries? No one knows. Even with them, I am way above-average intelligence and I’m getting my words back after many months of missing most of them. So it goes.
Best to you all in your recoveries!
Sally
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Good to hear that you’re on the mend. Irritability and impatience can really be a bear. Everything gets worse with fatigue. All those injuries we had earlier in life… I wonder sometimes if any of this would bother me now, if I hadn’t gotten “clocked” so many times before. But it is what it is, so … onward.
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Reblogged this on poetry, photos and musings oh my!.
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