Brain injuries can be the hardest type of injury to cope with. As well as physical consequences, there could be more pronounced cognitive challenges too. As well as the individual who suffered the injury, the victim’s family are often in need of support and help as well. Treatment for this type of injury can involve several specialists, and the costs associated with keeping all your appointments and getting the best care can be crippling.
Here we’ll look at a few tips to help you cope with the aftermath of suffering a brain injury.
Get the Best Combination of Help
A brain injury can affect so many different aspects of your life depending on the type of injury. You may need to see a physiotherapist to help with regaining your mobility and coordination. Sometimes speech and language therapy is needed to help patients regain their communication skills. Psychotherapy or counselling can be helpful when trying to cope with the emotional challenges of your new reality. An occupational therapist may be able to help you make adjustments in your day to day life to work around some of your daily challenges, and help you get the tools you need to live.
Be Kind to Yourself
It can be extremely easy to expect too much of ourselves. We often place higher demands on ourselves than we would ever expect from another person. Recognise that healing is a process and have patience with your progression. Joining a support group can provide perspective and support that helps you to get through your darker moments. Eating well and keeping yourself as healthy as you can will also help your overall wellbeing.
Remove Stress
At a time when you are trying to recover, there can be lots of extra pressures added on. These can include financial worries due to not working, the extra strain on your family, and your own daily challenges. Some of these worries can be removed to some degree. If your injury was the result of an accident, then you could make a brain injury compensation claim. This type of claim will take into account the impact on your life, including the cost of long and short-term treatments and the ongoing care that might need to be provided by your family or carers. While this can’t undo the damage done, it can go a long way to alleviating worry and allowing you to concentrate on your rehabilitation.
Stay Positive
A brain injury can be hard to cope with mentally, especially if you’re cognitively impaired because of the injury. A combination of having time on your hands and having been injured can be negative. Try to counter-act your negative thinking with positive thoughts and actions. You can even use cognitive therapy to try to change how you react to different situations. Taking control of one aspect of your thinking can be powerful, as it gives you back an element of control at a time when you may feel like you’re struggling.
Whatever specific challenges you face, view this new reality as an opportunity to establish some good habits within the limitations of your rehabilitation. As you progress, you can expand upon the good habits to help speed up your recovery and keep you in the right frame of mind.