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

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