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Second Chance to Live

Empowering the Individual, Not the Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery Predictions — What May be Limiting Your Recovery Process?

November 18, 2014 By Craig

Hello and welcome back to Second Chance to Live my friend. I am happy to have you around my table. Thank you for deciding to stop by to read this article. In this article, I will share 3 contributing factors that I believe influence recovery predictions for individuals who sustain and are living with traumatic brain injuries. In my experience, these 3 contributing factors, in effect; kept me focused on what I could not change. These 3 contributing factors, in effect; kept me fighting against myself, instead teaching me how to champion the gains that I was and am making as an individual who is living with the impact of a traumatic brain injury.

As your read, watch / listen to this article, may you be encouraged to change your focus from what you can not change to what you can accomplish within your set of circumstances. As you read, watch / listen to this article, may you be encouraged to stop fighting against yourself and start championing the gains that you make my friend. As you read, watch / listen to this article, may you grasp hope and move forward in your recovery process as an individual who is living with the impact of a traumatic brain injury. As you read, watch / listen to this article, may you be encouraged to run your own race.

My Observations of the 3  Contributing Factors

In my experience, I believe that no 2 traumatic brain injuries are the same, as no 2 individuals are the same. To give predictions concerning the recovery process of each individual is to place limits on each individual’s recovery process. I recently wrote 2 articles in which I spoke to 2 contributing factors that I believe, in effect; undermine and limit the recovery process’ of traumatic brain injury survivors. These 2 contributing factors — “struggling to accept me when other people can’t or won’t” and “it’s all up in your head”–  imply and assign blame to traumatic brain injury survivors. Blame for some thing that they are powerless over being able to change.

Let me explain. Both messages communicate to brain injury survivors that there is something wrong with us, that it is our fault and that is the reason why people do not accept us. The implications of these messages can lead brain injury survivors to believe that “if” they do not recover in specified ways that there is something inherently wrong with them. The implications of these messages also serve to set brain injury survivors up to fail. What I mean by setting up brain injury survivors to fail is that the brain injury survivor can be led to believe that if they do not meet specific “criteria” that demonstrate recovery gains, then they are not “recovering”. Brain injury survivors may subsequently become frustrated and disheartened in their recovery process because of these messages. For many years, I remained frustrated and disheartened.

For many years I found myself frustrated and disheartened because I bought into the 2 message that set me up to believe there was some thing wrong with me, that it was my fault and that I was the reason why people did not accept me. These messages undermined my capacity to recover because I didn’t know any better.

In my recovery process, I discovered a 3rd contributing factor that can limit and undermine the recovery process of traumatic brain injury survivors. Let me explain. During this past weekend, I spent some time with a friend. During our time together I asked him to show me how to back up a browser profile. He showed me and then wanted me to duplicate what he showed me. As I attempted to recreate what he showed me, he became frustrated with me. I then proceeded to sit down and write down each step of the process of backing up a browser profile, that he explained; through a list of 9 steps. I share the interaction with my friend to illustrate the 3rd contributing factor. The way that people may be trying to teach you as a traumatic brain injury survivor may not be the way in which you learn, which may be leaving you frustrated and disheartened.

In a later conversation, during our visit; my friend said that he does not know how to teach me. His statement reinforced the significance of the 3rd contributing factor.

Solution

What the experience, with my friend over the weekend; reinforced was that the recovery process of traumatic brain injury survivors may be limited, not because of our inability to learn, but because of the way in which people have been trying to teach us. With this consideration, I would encourage you to challenge the prediction of your recovery, as a traumatic brain injury survivor. Maybe you have not been making the recovery gains that you would like as a traumatic brain injury survivor because of the ways that people have expected you to learn. Something else that you may like to consider is that maybe your learning style has changed after you sustained your traumatic brain injury. Consequently, the recovery predictions that have been given to you may have nothing to do with you, but with the way you now learn.

With the 3rd consideration, you may want to have your learning style tested to determine how you best learn. In September of 2007, I wrote an article to share some information that has benefited me: Traumatic Brain Injury and Activities of Daily Living. Here is a link to the article Traumatic Brain Injury and Activities of Daily Living and a link to the video presentation of the article Traumatic Brain Injury and Activities of Daily Living Video Presentation. I would encourage you to read, watch or listen to the article and then ask your counselor to test your current learning style (s). By understanding and incorporating your true learning style, you may find that recovery process will take on new life. By doing so, you may find yourself surpassing the predictions that were made; concerning your recovery process.

Article and Video Presentation Links

Below are links to the 2 articles that I spoke to at the beginning of this article, along with links to the video presentations of these article: Living with an Invisible Disability — Accepting Ourselves when Other People Can’t and Living with a Brain Injury — “it’s all up in your head” — Lest I be lulled back into Denial, as well as the video presentations of these 2 articles: Living with an Invisible Disability — Accepting Ourselves when Other People Can’t  Video Presentation and Living with a Brain Injury — “it’s all up in your head” — Lest I be lulled back into Denial Video Presentation

You have my permission to share my articles and or video presentations with anyone you believe could benefit, however, please attribute me as being the author of the article (s) video presentation (s), and provide a link back to the article (s) on Second Chance to Live. In the event that you have questions, please send those questions to me. All questions are good questions. Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you. Copyright 2016.

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