Okay, Let's Start at the Beginning
The impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) often results in a complex presentation of psychological symptoms and associated distress. These symptoms can encompass anxiety, depression, anger, grief, and traumatic stress. Furthermore, the ability to cope with these symptoms is often complicated by the cognitive changes to the brain itself and the individual's coping style before the injury. Psychological symptoms are frequently evident, but there can also be disruption in the way people perceive their sense of self. People with a TBI may experience an unstable view of 'who they are' and tend to look at themselves and others more negatively after a TBI. These psychological symptoms can also include behavioral problems, such as verbal and physical aggression.
All of these factors contribute to a complex adjustment process that influences the person's ability to engage in many aspects of their rehabilitation and become involved in meaningful activities.
Lower levels of depression have been associated with increased participation in social and recreational activities after a brain injury. Therefore, timely intervention for these adjustment difficulties is essential to help improve participation in rehabilitation and engagement in their lives. If clients become better able to accept their changes, they can learn to cope and move on with their lives.
The idea is to:
Accept your deficits and what effect they have on your functioning. You can't change that your deficits exist and most things are out of your control. Letting upsetting emotions influence your functioning in every situation is detrimental to your wellbeing.
Once you can accept the hard truth, you don't have to spend so much attention on feeling upset about it. Therefore, you have the opportunity to choose how you want to live a meaningful life, given the abilities you do have.
Take action to live a fulfilling life using coping skills and concentrating on what you can do without focusing on your limitations.
Now, that sounds easy. But no fairy godmother pops by to poof away your negative thoughts, make you accept your limitations, and kick your butt into actively taking charge of what you can control in your life. Improvement is a continuous process of taking action, self-acceptance, mindfulness, reflection, and mental flexibility.
Then How Do I Do It?
There are a number of stages in Adjusting and Accepting something:
➤ Shock. The reality of the loss takes time to sink in, and people react in different ways – denial, hysteria, disbelief, or confusion.
➤ Protest. At this stage, strong and powerful feelings occur, such as anger, guilt, sadness, fear, yearning, and searching as you struggle between the fantasy of denying, and the reality of accepting what has happened.
➤ Disorganization. This is the stage when the reality of the loss is only too real, and you may feel despair and depression.
➤ Reorganization. You begin to rebuild your life, acquiring more balance, and being able to remember happier times again.
I'm not a fairy godmother, but I can help!
Improving requires effort from you and from me.
BUT
I should never put in more effort than you.
A gorgeous and giving wife
you have an amazing support system!
If you treat them with honesty, kindness, and respect, they'll want to support you even more.
A Talanted daughter.
