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TBI and Caregivers

How to keep on keeping on

in Caregiver, Mental Health, Self Care
December 6, 2021
0
TBI and Caregivers

by James Heuer

A traumatic brain injury affects not only the person suffering from it, but their entire family and friends. Typically, a caregiver can be a spouse, child, relative, or close friend. Stressing the importance of seeking support services for the caregiver themselves is vital. Caring for someone with a traumatic brain injury can interfere with the caregiver’s own personal responsibilities such as work and family, and can affect their health and finances negatively. Caregivers can end up losing work time, social activities, and family obligations. Studies have found and recognize those caregivers can experience feelings of distress, anxiety, anger and depression.

When a caregiver commits to taking care of a loved one, reaching out to the Brain Injury Association of America for information and educational materials is highly recommended. This is to help the caregiver understand the consequences of a TBI injury and their role in the course of recovery. Every brain is unique as every injury is unique, Understanding the steps of the journey of what your loved one with a TBI will go through is cardinal in a caregiver’s role and duties.

Initially after an accident, a caregiver will be taking their loved one to scans, examinations, and physical therapies. Post-concussion symptoms will be apparent, and sometimes after many doctor visits, the incredible challenge may make you ask, “Will it ever get better?”

Once a patient realizes they cannot resume their daily activities, they can be upset and behavioral problems can arise. A caregiver should be sure to look for possible issues such as sensitivity to light and sound, pacing, and hallucinations. Mood and social problems can arise such as anxiety, depression, mood swings, and agitation. As a caregiver, limiting certain interactions with others while this is happening is essential.

Typically, a caregiver can experience burnout as a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. This can stem from overextending themselves physically and financially. Burnout can cause high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. The stress may alter and reduce a caregiver’s ability to provide proper and quality caregiving. Oftentimes, therapy can offer both social support and coping mechanisms. Seeking help through a home health aide or a personal care assistant for services of care to provide breaks for the caregiver is recommended.

Mayo Clinic suggests caregivers should not try to do everything themselves. Taking a break and asking a friend or family member for help when it’s needed is  essential for a caregiver’s mental health. Something such as running errands or taking a shower is a needed break in the caregiver routine. Caregivers should be aware of their limits and not over- extend themselves. Overextending leads to exhaustion, which is harmful to for the caregiver, making it even harder on the loved one with the traumatic brain injury.

Instead of dwelling on the consequences of the injury, caregivers should try their best to focus on daily successes and steer away from the loss and perceived failures. Set reasonable goals daily. With severe traumatic brain injuries for example, a caretaker may need to walk their loved one to a coffee shop practicing the words needed to order a drink. The long-term goal would be to eventually walk alone to the coffee shop and order yourself a drink. In the rehabilitation stage, every task or activity you once loved may seem intimidating. Within this phase, a caretaker has the loved one work on language therapy, strength, coordination and motor skills. As a caretaker, you should be motivating and be specific with the goals you set with your loved one. To find a balance in meeting your own needs and their needs is the best way to create a successful journey in regaining a normal life.

James A. Heuer, PA, is a personal injury attorney helping individuals with TBI after suffering one himself, he is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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  • It was such a pleasure to keynote at the @biaofms NeuroTrauma Symposium last Friday. What an amazing group of professionals and survivors. I found some new resources I didn’t even know existed out there!! 

#bia #braininjury #concussion #tbi #pcs #keynote #brainhealth #neuroplasticity
  • Neuro fatigue is beyond tired, it’s when you’re brain says “I’ve had enough” and shuts down everything. It often a sneaks up on you when you least expect it, making it hard to manage. 

If you’ve never experienced it, it’s truly hard to understand. But please believe us when we tell you we’re done and need to rest. And that rest may look different for everyone. Some may need a nap. Some may just need a quiet space. There’s no right or wrong way to rest. 

#braininjury #tbi #pcs #concussion #braininjuryawareness #braininjuryawarenessmonth #TBIsurvivor
  • A traumatic brain injury is the ultimate “invisible injury” as no one can see what’s happening inside your brain. Even imaging doesn’t show a TBI (unless you have bleeding or severe trauma). It’s impossible to explain to others, and even doctors don’t take us seriously or know how to help us. 

It is incredibly frustrating to go through life being told “there’s nothing we can do. You’ll just have to give it more time and see what happens” and even more frustrating when you find out that there are doctors out there who truly DO know how to help us!  Like @integratedbraincenters 

#braininjury #tbi #pcs #concussion #functionalneurology #braininjuryawareness
  • I remember how I would literally need to lay down after taking a shower because it was so exhausting. And something like going to the grocery store and bringing them in and putting them away would require me to do nothing else for the rest of the day. It was a one-chore kind of activity. 

These are normal, every day things we take for granted before brain injury, and afterwards they require soooo much energy and effort. It’s truly hard for someone who hasn’t experienced a brain injury to understand. 💚

#braininjury #tbi #concussion #pcs #braininjuryawareness #TBIsurvivor
  • You totally got this!! 
Is it gonna be easy? Nope. 
Is it gonna be worth it? Absolutely! 

#tbi #braininjury #concussion #pcs #TBIrecovery #TBIsurvivor
  • The Chair Yoga Pocket Guide is trending on Kickstarter! We’re over half-way to our goal! Can you help us get there by pre-ordering an autographed copy of the book?? 

LINK IN BIO 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brainhealthmag/the-chair-yoga-pocket-guide

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  • I remember folks would talk to me and my brain would take forever to process what they were saying. They would be into the next subject and I’d still be trying to decipher their first sentence. It was frustrating and exhausting. 

Friends would tell me to “try harder” and concentrate. But that’s not how it works with brain injury. 

It’s like if you drop your laptop and scramble it’s processor. 

#braininjury #concussion #tbi #pcs #braininjuryawareness #braininjuryawarenessmonth #TBIsurvivor
  • #Repost @integratedbraincenters
Recovery as defined in the dictionary is a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength. 

Missing from this definition is that recovery is a continuum. We often hear in recovery post surgery that a patient is a percent recovered (Sue is 80% recovered post hip replacement) demonstrating that recovery is not an all or nothing situation but is rather a spectrum. 

Not everyone will make a 100% recovery but most people can move forward in their recovery in some way, even if it is only 10% or 70%. 

To say that recovery is not possible in any capacity is probably untrue. The more severe the injury the more likely you will never be the same person you were prior, but that does not mean that you can’t get back to doing the things you love and contribute to your family and community.

#beaininjury #concussion #tbi #pcs #neuroplasticity #resilience #resiliency #TBIsurvivor
  • No two brain injuries are the same, therefore, no two recoveries are the same. Don’t compare yours against someone else’s, as you never know what they’ve already gone through. 

Focus on YOU and your recovery. What could you try differently? What should you maybe give up? I personally gave up alcohol and gluten and that was huge for me and my inflammation. 

#braininjury #concussion #tbi #pcs #neuroplasticity #functionalneurology #funcneuro #neuronerd

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