When life changes in a blink of an eye, people are never prepared for what will happen or how they will deal with the changes. Being a caregiver for a person with Traumatic Brain Injury is learning and a teaching experience for all individuals involved. Family and friends must know what to do and how to deal with the unexpected. Although you never quite understand what goes on in the injured brain, there are signs that will give you a good idea of which way to turn.
Head trauma can be as slight as a bump on the head or as severe as an almost fatal automobile accident. In any case, damage to the brain can occur with the slightest of injury. What happens after still mystifies a lot of the medical professionals today. Does the person who has had the trauma forget things, get irritated quickly, have headaches or vision problems, has difficulty with solving problems that were very easy to do before or maybe go into a blank stare, get lost in the store while shopping or even driving to a place they had been to hundreds of times before? People with Traumatic Brain Injury might have some of these symptoms if not more.
Compassion for the survivor is of the utmost importance due to the fact that they probably do not realize the reasons why they can’t complete a sentence, lose their thought in a conversation with a blank stare, forget about the cake in the oven or dinner that was ready in twenty minutes but it has been an hour and the roast is now a piece of jerky, then all of a sudden get frustrated and a irritated, an outburst of anxiety comes out and the people around them think that they might be losing their mind…well, in a sense, they did. Their routing of cognitive thinking has been impaired. Frustration and aggravation, self esteem and confidence goes down, and their self worth is being diminished by the simple things in life that they used to be able to do so well.
On the outside, everything looks fine. For the lucky ones who can still dress and take care of their hygienic needs every day, family and friends think that everything is normal, but the invisible damage from the trauma lingers on inside the brain. Understanding through educating yourself will get you and the individual on the right track to get their life and yours back to a normal way of life.
Acceptance that life has changed as you knew it is one of the hardest things to overcome. Being a caregiver is sometime difficult to change the things you did in the past to things you have to do now. Educate yourself on the injury and what can be done to help overcome this traumatic event. There are many organizations, support groups, books, articles, doctors, and friends that will help. Rest assured that you are not alone out there and the situation is not unique. The more you learn about Traumatic Brain Injury-Giving Care For the Survivor will be easier, and the tasks at hand will become a part of everyday life. Have patience, love, and compassion and all will be just fine.
I am a caregiver.
If you would like to learn more about Traumatic Brain Injury and how several survivors have overcome issues, Click Here