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The 9 Stepping Stones Of Head Injury Recovery

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Acceptance

Some health experts feel that the better a traumatic brain injury (TBI) patient accepts what has happened and is able to adapt to his or her new situation, the better they will succeed in their recovery. How people deal with an injury, ill-health, and especially TBI varies enormously – some people thrive on proving doctors wrong about their recovery; while others work quietly and steadily towards a goal. Whatever you feel about your head injury is normal for you – and highs are often preceded by lows in recovering from all traumatic situations, so don’t give up or give in as it is a gradual process.

Counseling and psychotherapy

Recovering from head injury can be a very frustrating process – and it is easy to attribute other problems in your life to that frustration, or feel that talking to someone sympathetic like a counselor might help. The purpose of a psychotherapist or counselor is not necessarily to be sympathetic but to help you address issues in your life and overcome them, and this can be difficult and traumatic in itself, involving real dedication to a program of therapy over months or even years.

Make sure you really want to commit to this as therapy can unearth all sorts of buried issues – and talking about your situation or past unhappiness in itself means having to tread old ground. Counseling and therapy is not for everyone – especially if you have a head injury or brain injury which can leave your thought processes in disarray – look for a psychotherapist who specializes in brain injury patients if you want to go ahead.

First-year recovery

It is generally thought that the first year following head or brain injury is a good indicator of how well a patient will recover. This is not always the case, though, as every head injury is different – and finding the right therapy or treatment at the right time can really help you make a breakthrough. Brain injury is one area of medicine that is a focus for research and new therapies and treatments are constantly being investigated.

Frustration

You have a right to feel angry, frustrated, and fed up – but only for a short while. Recovery from injury is an ongoing process – you may feel you just want to get back to your normal life, but every day you try something different or do something new, you are getting back to normal. It may not be normal you would like – but use your frustration to propel you onwards and if your recovery hits a plateau, just trying a new experience, however simple, can help you change gear again and take you forward.

IQ

IQ tests are sometimes used to evaluate recovery – but a normal IQ reading (100-plus) for a brain injury patient who used to have a genius IQ (140-plus), may not represent a step forward. IQ does not tell the whole picture with brain injury recovery – and frankly, it is a lot more useful to be able to carry out daily tasks than understanding Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Understanding the offside rule is even more useful and a true sign of genius, of course.

Medication

After head injuries, a whole new world involving the medicine cabinet may open up to you. Medication is not necessarily the solution to your recovery but can help control unpleasant symptoms like seizures, although drugs to treat these may affect your memory. Discuss with your doctor the pros and cons of the medications you are prescribed – and how they might affect you. If you are firmly against taking medications, as some people are, discuss long-term objectives regarding prescription drugs and how you can eventually cut down to the minimum and still control symptoms.

Neuro evaluation

Neurological evaluation of “normal” after a head injury can still mean there are some brain injury and loss of function affecting day-to-day life. The type of head injury you have suffered can also impact a normal neurological evaluation – trauma to the head which causes brain injury in different areas may mean doctors cannot always pinpoint the main area of residual damage, even if the actual areas of internal injury have healed. If you have a normal evaluation but are still having issues with mobility or cognitive skills, discuss this with your doctor.

Miracle cures

Praying for a miracle cure shows that you are a normal human being. Rather than look for miracle cures, gen up on the latest clinical research and discuss the future possibilities with your doctors. Knowing how the future landscape looks with regard to new drugs and therapies can be both reassuring and boost your optimism about the future. Many people find taking part in research and becoming involved in finding new therapies for head/brain injury extremely rewarding – for example, research into a post-traumatic headache (PTH) or biomedical studies. The Medical Research Council (MRC Cognition and Brain Science Unit) is a good place to start if you are interested in joining a clinical research trial into brain injury.

Letting yourself be looked after unnecessarily

Many patients are in a state of shock after a head injury – or any surgery or injury. Being looked after can help make you feel secure as you make your way back to health again. However, being looked after can be addictive, so if you feel yourself actually getting to like the attention and caring you receive, try and wean yourself off it. Sitting back and letting others care for you more than they need to is known as learned dependency – it may make you feel nice and safe, but you need to get going again on the road to recovery. The sense of achievement you will feel at being able to gradually look after yourself more and more can also spur you on and boost your optimism about recovering from your brain injury and getting back to a more normal life.