I Have a What? A Guide for Coping with Moderate-to-Severe TBI

More documents

Recommendations

Info

RRTC ON COMMUNITY INTEGRATION OF PERSONS WITH TBIWhat can I do?Relaxation – When your body and mind are completely relaxed, it is hard tofeel anxious and stressed at the same time. Progressive muscle relaxation isa technique in which you tense and then relax all the major muscle groupsin your body. You can start with your feet and work up to your head (or theother way around). The idea is that your body cannot feel tense and relaxedat the same time. Practicing how to relax can help your body feel lessstressed. This is a skill and takes practice to learn. If you’d like moreinformation, relaxation exercises are included on page 63 of this manual.Exercise – Exercise can help your body run more efficiently. It can alsoboost your immune system. When your body is strong, it can fight off stressbetter. Talk to your doctor before beginning an exercise program.Changing ways of thinking – How we think about things can affect howwe feel. Sometimes changing the way you think about things can help youfeel better. For example, if you think negative thoughts during a badsituation, these thoughts may increase your stress. They may make you feelangry or sad. Ways to try and change negative thinking are included onpage 69.Signs of stress:Feeling tired all the timeTrouble sleepingFelling overwhelmed, even with small tasksDifficulty concentratingTension headachesStomach aches and other bodily achesMuscle tension (sore back, shoulders)Weight gain/lossPage 33
I Have a What?!:A Guide for Coping with Moderate-to-Severe TBIImagery – When you are stressed, it can sometimes help to put your mindon other things. This can help you to relax your mind and body. One way todo this is to use your imagination to visualize images that are calm andrelaxing. These images may be real places or may be imaginary places thatyou create in your mind. The more real you can make your image, the morethat thinking about it can help you relax. See method #4 found in Part A onpage 67 of this manual for more information on using your imagination toreduce stress.DepressionStay healthy – Make sure you get good sleep and have a balanced diet.Sadness is a natural reaction to a difficult situation. All of us feel sad atsome point in our lives. It is natural to feel sadness after a moderate-tosevereTBI, especially if the moderate-to-severe TBI caused majorchanges in your life, job, or family. Some people can also feel sad after amoderate-to-severe TBI because of direct injury to the brain. The injuryto the brain may cause changes in the way a group of nerve cells in thebrain work, which are related to moods. While your brain is healing, youmay have a hard time controlling your emotions. You may feel sadderthan you usually would in the same situation. You may feel like you crymore easily. You may also have a hard time getting started on things.Depression is different from normal sadness, because you may find it harder to “snapout of it.” You may not enjoy the things that used to help you feel better. Depression canbe described as a feeling of sadness that does not go away. It is important to know andrecognize the signs of depression. Depression can get in the way of your recoveryfollowing a moderate-to-severe TBI. The good news is that if depression has become aproblem for you after your injury, there are several treatments available that can help.Page 34
Page 3: Margaret A. Struchen, Monique R. Pa
Page 6 and 7: y Jason FergusonO.K., tell me again
Page 8 and 9: RRTC ON COMMUNITY INTEGRATION OF PE
Page 10: RRTC ON COMMUNITY INTEGRATION OF PE
Page 86: I HAVE A WHAT?!:A Guide for Coping

I Have a What? A Guide for Coping with Moderate-to-Severe TBI

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?