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Administrator
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August 22 2010 |
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By Diana Lilley, Psychologist, Scotland
As you have already learned, when a person you live with suffers from a brain injury, you suffer too. It's a trauma for everyone in the household. There's the shock of how the person has changed, the adjustment to a different way of living and relating to the person, the continuous hard work of caring, the disturbing feelings that come unbidden: anger, guilt, despair, sadness, frustration - to name but a few.
Adjustment to brain injury takes time. You can't move overnight from the accident to an acceptable new way of living. The transition period is is a time when all manner of feelings emerge in the mind and when the body slows down to recover from the assault of the trauma. For example, feeling worn out and sad or angry during the transition—all are natural reactions to extreme change.The transition has its own timeline: you can't hurry it or slow it down. However, you can "cooperate" with what is happening to you. Here are some ways:
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Marilyn Colter
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August 19 2010 |
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If you are a caregiver to a brain-injured person, you have probably realized by now that this injury defines many people-not just you and the person you care for. It also defines your friends and those family members who you thought would be there for you but weren't. Let's face it, sometimes people just don't measure up to our expectations. That person who said, "I'll help, just call me"— well, there's a pretty good chance that if you call, he or she will say they're too busy or it's not convenient. It's pretty devastating when you need their help and they let you down.
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Marilyn Colter
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January 19 2010 |
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This week I ran into two people who I'd been out of touch with for a few years. Both had brain injuries—it was a reminder to me of how hard it is for families to survive a brain injury. How can we help families like these? Is there any way to help these survivors maintain their relationships?
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Marilyn Colter
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February 09 2010 |
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Garry Prowe has just released "Successfully Surviving a Brain Injury: a Family Guidebook." The book, the first in a series, is focused on issues "From the Emergency Room to Selecting a Rehabilitation Facility." It's a great new edition to the list of books for caregivers. As a matter of fact, I think this book should be handed to families in any emergency room family waiting area when a brain injury patient has just been admitted. Garry has kept the first few chapters short, succinct and to the point. The facts he focuses on in the first few pages are often dealt with in a couple of paragraphs but they either answer the question a family member hasn't been able to get answered, or tells people how to find out the answer. Most families in the first few days of dealing with brain injury won't be able to absorb any more than that information but will be grateful for the information. Especially good is the short list of "7 Reasons to be Encouraged." Check it out on our book reviews page.
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Marilyn Colter
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January 04 2010 |
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Happy New Year! Have you seen how much increased interest about brain injury there has been from the media and the general population in the last half of 2009? While I grieve for the families having to deal with it, the world seems newly interested in helping brain injury survivors
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Brain Injury Family Blog
