The last several years we have learned about the repercussions of repetitive hits to the heads of our football heroes. Do we really understand though? We see stories about them on the news or read about them in newspaper articles, focused, not on past glories or achievements, but on present day despair. On regrets. On wishing they had lived their lives differently. We see ... Read On
Living Large and Howling at Our TBI Demons
Everyone has their demons; ghosts that haunt us because of something that has or hasn't happened in our past. For those of us with brain injuries, our collection of demons is varied and extremely powerful. We feel overwhelmed when we face those things that haunt us: peoples' comments, the can't do's, the used to be able to's, the relationship issues, the work issues. They ... Read On
“So That’s Why I Do That!!”
How many of us, TBI survivors, do things or say things only to wonder, minutes later, "Why did I do that?" We go through our day-to-day lives, doing the best we can as we try to "normalize", and we often find ourselves doing these things we think are normal when they aren't at all. It becomes routine to do things without understanding why or thinking anything about them; ... Read On
Brain Injury and the Pain of Being Confused
It's hard for others to understand what's going on with us when we say we're confused. Heck, it's even hard for us to understand. This lack of understanding leads to incredible frustration for others and for us. What exactly is brain injury "confusion", why is it different from everyday confusion and why are we, TBIsurvivors, brought to our knees when faced with it? Well, ... Read On
“Stuff” I Have Forgotten Since My TBI
Of course there have been many things - all kinds of things - I have forgotten at some point since my TBI, but I'm not talking here about everyday things. I don't mean it the same way that we TBI survivors have become used to: those memory problems that plague us daily and won't go away. Forgetting in our daily lives is something we are all familiar with. We forget things ... Read On