Brain injuries impact 65,000,000 people annually worldwide. In North America that’s a Brain Injury every 9 seconds. Most Brain Injuries are caused by motor vehicle accidents. Brain Injuries are also a result of Strokes, Self Harm, Sport Injury, Violence, Combat Injuries, Falls, Disease, Electrical Shock. Brain Injury the “Silent Epidemic “ is the largest contributor to death and disability for all trauma-related injuries. Survivors with Brain Injuries can experience many symptoms. Some of the more common symptoms are Headaches, Dizziness, Brain Fog, Cognitive Issues, Memory Loss, Vision Loss, Mood Swings and Chronic Pain. Brain Injuries can be progressive, survivors could experience new symptoms years later including organ failures.
Brain Injury, The Invisible Disease, at first glance a survivor may look no different than anyone in a crowd. How we sit, walk, stand, think, how we work and do our chores is different. It is different from how others do them and it is different from how we used to do them. It can take 5 times more energy to complete tasks with a Brain Injury than without one. Understanding and accepting these changes can be a challenge for others to accept, it can be a greater challenge for survivors to accept. Brain Injury Survivors are at a 3-4 time greater risk of death by suicide and have a higher level of suicide attempts and suicide ideation. Brain Injury Survivors are fighters and warriors, they battle daily with their symptoms for the possibility of a better tomorrow.
It does take time. My whole sense of time changed completely after my TBI. It took me years to even realize what areas I had changed in. And I feel that I have gotten worse possibly but we are survivors. Don’t let the anxiety or worry get you down. Try your best to focus on something positive…anything you can think of big or small…tap into something positive. I believe it will help u learn how to stay positive after practice. I was in a snowboarding accident when I fell & landed on the back of my head without a helmet that day.
I was in a car accident February 19th 2013. I was at a full stop on the interstate. My car was hit from behind. An 18 year old girl was weaving in and out of traffic. The interstate was icy it was 8pm. She lost control of her car slammed into the back of my car. I remember the impact, my seat back breaking. I woke up confused, in pain, my car was facing on coming traffic. I must have passed out again. A man was pounding on the drivers side window yelling “Are you ok? Can you hear me?” He said to someone “I think we have another fatality here.” I remember opening the door as best I could. I remember paramedics, being in an ambulance and seeing the wreckage of the car that hit me. The 18 year old girl slammed into the side of a semi trailers t-bar and was killed instantly. She was arguing with her boyfriend via txt msg the police report stated. I had a broken shoulder, broke so ribs, whiplash, cuts from broken glass and a concussion. I learned I had a TBI. I was 42 at the time. Had gone back to school. My life changed that day. I was in another car accident October 20 2021 a week after my mom died. My dad died in 2020. I think my TBI has gotten worse. Brain fog is bad, brain drain etc. i want to know if anyone with a TBI has issues with talking incessantly? Being told at work that I talk too much. I don’t know that people are done with a conversation and want to walk away but I ramble on and on. I tell complete strangers stuff about myself that I never would before. I annoy people, my spouse tells me how to behave in public, you’re sharing too much, you can stop talking you’re not trying hard enough. Don’t tell me you can’t control it. I tell myself shut up shut up, let people talk to,you, listen stop interrupting them. Then my brain says NO we’re going to ramble on and on. My new job it’s getting noticed and since October 2021 it’s gotten worse. I am so self conscious about it plus if I’m fatigued it’s worse and I get overwhelmed by to many things going on at work I get mad, confused ramble on and can’t get to the point. I need help but don’t know who to turn to. I’m terrified of talking to a therapist now after,a therapist told me I talk to much and how they help me if I can’t listen. I ended that session quickly. I’ve lost friends I’ve isolated myself from everyone because no one wants to have a conversation with me. I’m frustrated, embarrassed, I hate walking into places i travel to for work because I want to be confident professional. Instead I forget words and stumble over words and ramble on. I’ve sat in the parking lot filled with anxiety over everything. Being told everyday no one wants to hear every minute detail get to the point. Stop talking. You’re talking to fast. I can’t live like this anymore I can’t sleep I’ve gained weight. I’m a 51 year old man I’m 5’7 and I’m apathetic no energy fast depressed and I get out of bed don’t shower some days and throw clothes on and fake my way through another day. I just don’t know where to go what to do. I’m afraid my tbi is worse. Anyway if someone reads this and can get though my rambling and run on sentences thank you for reading some of my story. There’s more I could write but I’d end up writing a short story with some, interesting stuff but most would be incoherent babbling with do much detail.
I was stopped at a red light in 2006 when I was hit from behind by a flatbed tow truck carrying a car. I was pushed into the car in front of me and then the next four vehicles. I was unconscious for a short time. They needed two more tow trucks to separate my van and the tow truck that was three feet inside of it. I was in therapy for two years with whiplash.
What you are experiencing is normal. Therapy may help but it will take commitment and time. Progress can be slow and at times may seem like it’s crawling and that’s normal too.