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 TBISome amount of frustration and anger can help you get things done.Too much anger or long-lasting irritability and anger can havedamaging effects. It can cause problems with your health. It can alsocause problems in your relationships with others. Learning ways tomanage your frustration and anger can help your recovery.What can I do?Recognize early signs – Our body gives us signs that we are angry. Theseinclude a racing heart, flushed or hot face, sweating, etc. It is important tonotice when you are getting angry before it gets out of control.Use relaxation techniques to help calm you down. When you realize youare getting angry or if you are already angry, try to relax. Several techniquesyou can try are described on page 63.Take a time-out – If you are feeling angry, sometimes it is necessary to takea time-out. This means leaving the situation that is making you angry forsome period of time. Time-outs can give you a chance to calm down.Remember that you can handle a problem better if you are calm.Change your way of thinking – Often we get angry not at a situation, butbecause of how we think about the situation. Sometimes our thoughts canmake us angrier than what actually happened. You have the ability tomanage how you think about things. For example, if your doctor is late foran appointment, you might think to yourself “this guy doesn’t care aboutme…he probably just wants to go play golf.” If you think about the situationthat way, you are likely to feel irritated, angry, or resentful. However, if inthe same situation you think to yourself, “the doctor might be dealing withan emergency right now,” you are less likely to feel upset. Some ideas aboutways to manage your thinking are on page 69.Page 40