Many of us brain injury survivors live with some degree of anxiety following our brain injuries. This anxiety primarily centers around how we feel about ourselves and our place in the world, and of course, that anxiety can change or become worse based on events happening around us. The Coronavirus, by itself, may not have much to do with Brain Injury, except when our immune ... Read On
Calming Those “Chattering Monkeys” In Our Head
. You know what I'm talking about: the crazy, never-ending noise in our heads; questioning, debating, not believing, not trusting. The bedlam in our brains. That infernal, mind blowing racket that stops us in our tracks. Now, this noise may not begin immediately, but after the initial shock and trauma of our brain injury begins to wear off and we start looking for our ... Read On
Brain Injury Now: Interpreting My Past, Living My Present, Finding My Future
Here I am, at age sixty-four, about to enter a new phase of my life: forty-five years after my month-long coma, I've reached that age when I can retire. That idea sounds great, so I tell people I am going to retire in a year. Their usual response is, "Well, what are you retiring from?" "I am going to retire from being disabled." Do I really believe that? No. No I ... Read On
This TBI Survivor Doesn’t Care How You Talk to Me
At some point during this 43 year "trip" I've spent living with a brain injury, I got fed up: too much of my mental energy was being spent getting frustrated and angry because of things other people said to me. That was the moment I decided that I should not allow my mental health or my well being be dependent on the words of others. I saw that no matter how much I tried to ... Read On
Let’s Honor the Courage of the TBI Survivor
Some acts are obviously courageous: a person runs into a burning building and saves a life, or a bystander dives into a lake to save a drowning person. These are dramatic examples of courage and bravery, when people make spur of the moment decisions and put their own lives at risk in order to save others. There is, however, another, harder to see type of courage, and to ... Read On