Potential outcomes of brain injury including behaviour, cognitive, social, emotional.
All images from Pixabay.com
This week I was invited to talk at a local Stroke Support Group. Shamelessly I traded tips on looking after yourself, for the group's help writing this article on living with Stroke! The group comprised people who were living with Stroke, and family members. Below I share their responses to the question I asked “What would you most like to pass on to others about living with Stroke?” What you see below, is what was reported. Apart from a bit of reordering, and minus a few risqué jokes! I had a lot of fun, and there was a lot of laughter amongst the serious conversation. I hope I can convey a little of that here. See what you think, I believe this would also be relevant to people living with brain injury from all causes. Living With Stroke - Tips There were two main areas people talked about: [unordered_list style="green-dot"] the impact of having a Stroke – listed below as headings…
Image by Chris Scott
The beauty of creating, of being creative, of creative thought, of exploring our creativity is that: [unordered_list style="green-dot"] ability does not matter there is no right or wrong way to be creative, there is no good or bad way and as we saw last week there are many ways to be creative. [/unordered_list] Last week there was a lot of creative talent in one small article: “A Pink Bunny, Creativity and Brain Injury“. It made me realise the topic “creativity and brain injury” seemed irrelevant in a way – not the creative bit, the brain injury bit. The creative talents of the artists last week showed that to be creative was the focus, brain injury was a very distant second. Let's Focus on How to Be Creative First and Brain Injury second. As I read about the creative achievements of my guests last week I realised I had not thought about being creative for myself. I keep telling myself I am…
Pink Rabbit Sculpture
This image inspired me to write about creativity. It reminded me that creativity is possible for each of us, whatever our talents, whatever our limitations. Sometimes it just takes someone to encourage and support us to give it a go. This all came about a while back, when visiting family. I spotted this wonderful ceramic sculpture displayed on a bookshelf. Now each time I visit, I seek it out, it captures me. I see it is a kind of stylized standing rabbit, pink, big-eyed and delightful. You can see it here for yourself. When I asked about the artist I discovered it was a 6 year old girl. My further surprise was to learn this young artist lives with a significant and serious physical disability, and vision impairment. Creative Endeavours The wonderful sculpture was created because family and supporters assisted and encouraged a young girl, with a severe disability, to be creative. I thought of other people I knew who had…
Image by Chris Scott
‘Changed Lives New Journeys’. The name for me reflects what I heard in many conversations about life changes after brain injury. Both from people living with brain injury and their families. Life changes in so many ways. I was reminded of this when I read an article by Wolfgang Wolf on his blog “The glass is half full √”. The title itself speaks volumes: “I used to drive a BMW, now I get around in a wheelchair”. I am grateful that Wolfgang has given permission to reprint this article in full here. You can visit his blog for more “The glass is half full √” or contact him direct. (See details at the end of the article below). Brain injury, including Stroke, are unpredictable events and they change lives in many ways. The article below by Wolgang expands on life changes, giving firsthand experience of the change that happens after an unpredicatable event, such as a Stroke. I used to drive a…
“The part of the brain damaged will determine the physical and cognitive effects.” A key message reminding us that most often the outcomes of brain injury links to the part of the brain that has been damaged. It can help to know a bit about the functions of the brain and what happens when damage to brain structures occurs. How much understanding about the brain is needed? Well maybe not as much as a neuroscientist! If the neuroscientist level of understanding is the Master Chef, the knowledge most of us need is that of a good home cook. We need basic knowledge to be competent and able to work things out. Below is a brief introduction to help build that “good home cook” knowledge. A look at what can happen when each major structure or lobe of the brain is damaged. It is a general summary, the outcomes will depend on the cause of brain injury and the extent of damage,…
Image from Pixabay
The four S’s Size, Site, Source, and Stage. A way to help understand the outcomes, and level of injury, that might occur after damage to the brain. Why bother understanding more about the brain and its function? To better understand the likely outcomes of damage to the brain. A reminder that the brain controls everything we do and therefore anything we do can be affected by damage to the brain. A reminder it is the damage to the brain causing difficulties, not the person. Help you work out ways to overcome, or work around the changes and difficulties that result. If you know someone is eating excessively because of damage to their limbic system you know that just saying “Don’t eat” is not going to be helpful. You know you will need quite strong strategies to overcome the strong urges being generated. Four S’s. A Way to Consider How Damage to the Brain Affects the Outcome. Size – How much…
We Take Care of Our Own. Or Do We
Bruce Springsteen, a song, brain injury, and a lack of support. What do they have to do with each other? For me they all linked together to become this weeks article! I was thinking about the people I have met, and read about, who are living with brain injury. It impacts on the the life of each person differently. For some, brain injury brings changes that are overwhelming, unacceptable, and sometimes just plain sad. When you really pay attention to these stories the lack of the right supports at the right time often creates the difficulties. Preparing the article last week on Brain Injury and Homelessness left me outraged. Outraged that a person could end up homeless because of sustaining a brain injury, often through a lack of adequate care and support. I thought I would share more of my outrage this week. Please share any "outrages" you have about support and brain injury in the Comments below. It Outrages Me…
What do you know about the link between brain injury and homelessness? Well I confess I did not know much. Knowing that a change of living situation is a common life change after brain injury it should have been something I had thought more about. This all began when my friend, my ‘Roving Reporter’, sent me a media briefing about brain injury and homelessness that a) Shocked me and b) Opened my eyes to other research. What is presented here is not an exhaustive search, it is more a taster to get us thinking. It began with tracking down the research that prompted the article my friend sent. I found four further studies into brain injury and homelessness from four countries. If you know of more please share them in the Comments below or send me an email HERE. United Kingdom Brain injury and homelessness The report that began this quest for me was this report published by the Disabilities Trust…
Image from USA Library of Congress
Difficult behaviour, Challenging behaviour, Behaviours of Concern, Unacceptable behaviour – the name changes but the issue remains. It is a BIG topic. It is a commonly requested topic. And if the experience is new to you it can be quite confronting. I have seen it become a ‘make or break’ issue for support workers continuing or not. Changes in behaviour is a potential outcome after brain injury. This can be distressing for family particularly if it is quite different behaviour from before. An older gentleman who was caring for his wife with dementia told me sadly “In all the time I knew her she never said a bad word. Now what comes out of her mouth is worse than anything I heard working on the wharfs in my young days”. Discussion is often focussed on “the behaviour” and how to “stop it”. Yes to stop it, is often the desperate hope of many of us. What if we were to begin the…
Flickr Image by David Rodriguez Martin
Imagine you can only ever think along one track. No changing tack, and no taking in new information. Rigidity after Brain Injury is like this. Others can think you are being deliberately obstructive, annoying or worse. Not understanding rigidity after brain injury can cause frustration and distress in relationships with family and friends. It can also lead supporters to misunderstand or misread behaviour, and to take things personally. It is helpful if each cognitive outcome, such as rigidity after Brain Injury, is carefully explained and understood by everyone involved. Seeking to understand as much as possible about rigidity is an important strategy for supporters to help learn not to take things personally. Flexibility vs Rigidity For most of us there is some aspect of change during our life we will find difficult. We might struggle to change familiar routines when events happen such as going to a new school, having a baby, moving to share a house with others. We might…