A Love Letter To the Brain Injury Community
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month!
I love love talking about my job working with individuals with brain injuries. I love getting the chance to break stigmas and reflect on the amazing moments I witness in people’s recoveries. But I also strive to bring awareness to an invisible yet highly prevalent condition.
The Brain Injury Association of America reports that 1 in every 60 people are currently living with a permanent brain injury-related disability. And “at least 3.6 million people in the U.S. sustain a brain injury each year.”
I’ve found that there’s a lot of misinformation about brain injury, especially in Hollywood. Considering we all probably know someone that has been affected in some capacity, here are a few things I think everyone should know about brain injuries:
- No brain injury presents the same way. You can't assume you know what is going to be impacted by the injury. If you're unsure of what a loved one might need or want from you, respectfully take the time to find that out rather than making assumptions.
- There's a spectrum of injuries, from mild (this includes concussions) to severe.
- Recovery from brain injury relies on neuroplasticity (that ability of our brains to make new connections and re-wire) and learning to compensate for new impairments.
- Brain injuries are caused by a number of events including trauma/physical accidents, stroke, oxygen deprivation, substance abuse/overdose, infectious disease, and more.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Brain injuries come with a complex constellation of challenges, not just for the individual, but for their families, friends, community, and greater support system. The next time you’re watching a movie where someone wakes up from a coma without missing a beat, take that as a reminder to go learn a little more about what someone in your circle may have actually gone through with their brain injury experience.
Dear You,
To the person navigating life after a brain injury. You are courageous. You are showing up for yourself every day, knowing there will be challenges and unexpected bumps. It might look to the general public that your battle was won once you left the hospital or therapies. As a warrior, you know better than anyone the battles that come with an often invisible disease. You mourn life before your accident and constantly dig deep to rebuild and grow. Working with individuals with brain injuries has shown me the full spectrum of the human spirit. You encapsulate what it means to persevere. You are courageous.
To the family member or friend of someone who’s experiencing a brain injury. You are selfless. You didn’t bat an eye when your loved one needed your help to start putting the pieces back together. You volunteered to take on the big and the small- managing big decisions, the hopeless waiting, taking time off work, learning to be an honorary nurse and therapist, while still filling your role as your loved one’s rock. You may not have known the extent of what you were signing up for and you may be exhausted. But you are what’s beautiful about human beings. You are selfless.
To my fellow brain injury healthcare workers. You are resilient. Your job can run the gamut from thankless, exhausting, and heart-breaking to rewarding, rejuvenating, and heart-warming. Sometimes you experience what feels like endless challenges and poor prognoses. You wonder if what you’re doing is really making an ounce of difference. But you hold space for both your patients and their families when they are at their most vulnerable. You see the tragedies and beauties of life, sometimes within the same hour. And especially this past year, when the outside world made your work world that much heavier, you showed up and you gave your heart. You are resilient.
Learn More
- The Brain Injury Association of America: https://www.biausa.org/
- Craig Hospital Brain Injury Resource Library: https://craighospital.org/brain-injury-resource-library
- International Brain Injury Association: http://www.internationalbrain.org/
- Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center: https://msktc.org/tbi/tbi-resources
- The Brain Injury Recovery Network: https://tbirecovery.org/
3 Comments
Heather K.
Everyday is a battle, a chance to experience improvement in your speech or motor skills or cognition. Celebrate those breakthroughs, and be gentle with your backsides or struggles. Incremental improvements are what you’re after. More than 3 years post stroke and still seeing improvements.
taylercorcoran
This is beautiful advice, and you are a rockstar! So great to hear from you! ❤️
Heather K.
Everyday is a battle, a chance to experience improvement in your speech or motor skills or cognition. Celebrate those breakthroughs, and be gentle with your backslides or struggles. Incremental improvements are what you’re after. More than 3 years post stroke and still seeing improvements.