Emotional and behavioural symptoms & suggestions

Emotional and behavioural symptoms

There are many ways of understanding emotional difficulties after a mild traumatic brain injury.

These types of problems can be:

  • part of the post-concussion symptoms themselves ( e.g. depression, anxiety or irritability) AND/OR
  • the result of trying to cope with the difficulties faced after the injury (e.g. the stress of having reduced cognitive resources) AND /OR
  • the consequence of the traumatic nature of the injury­event (e.g. post-traumatic stress).

The injury or injury-event can sometimes re-trigger past emotional problems that were previously resolved or worsen difficulties that were already present before.

Also, there may be stressful and difficult life events or issues that emerge after the injury but are completely independent from it. These too can exacerbate emotional problems.

The most common emotional difficulties faced after a mild traumatic brain injury are anxiety/stress, depression, post­traumatic stress and irritability/anger.

There is incredibly strong clinical evidence for how effective cognitive behavioural therapy can be in many of these kinds of problems and the following section outlines some of the ways they can be helped by CBT ideas. There are also many effective forms of medication which can be very helpful in these areas and general practitioners, neurological physicians and psychiatrists are knowledgeable about which might be of benefit for any individual.

 

 

 

 

Irritability

 One of the most frequent causes of irritability is tiredness.  People lose their tempers more easily when they are tired or overworked.  Adjust your schedule and get more rest if you notice yourself becoming irritable.

Everyone gets angry from time to time, often with good reason.  Being irritable only becomes a problem when it interferes with your ability to get along with people from day to day.  If you find yourself getting into arguments that cause trouble at home or at work, try to change the way you think about things.  Thoughts often make us more angry than what actually happened.

There is usually a reason why irritating things happen.  When something makes you angry, ask yourself what caused it.  Family, friends, or co-workers can do things that bother us at times.  Try to think of why they did whatever it was that irritated you.  What would they say the reason was?  Thinking about what caused a problem is the first step to solving it.

Problems can usually be solved better if you stay calm and explain your point of view.  The steps you need to take to solve a problem will be the same when you are calm as they would be if you were irritated.  Try to remind yourself of this when you find yourself becoming irritable.

You can usually come up with several ways to solve a problem.  Try to think of at least 5 different ways, and then decide on which is best.  Just realising that there are several things you can do to solve a problem will make it a lot less irritating.

 

 


 

 

Low Mood

People can begin to feel low when unpleasant things happen to them and a TBI is unpleasant.  We feel good when good things happen to us.  An effective way to manage these feelings is to make sure that good things happen.  One way of doing this is to plan to do something enjoyable for yourself every day.  Make your plan specific, and then be sure to do it.  That way you can look forward to it.  Anticipating and doing enjoyable things each day can improve your mood.

Thoughts can make us feel low and sad.  Thinking that things are bad or terrible will do it.  Bad situations are often not as terrible as they may seem at first.  Think back to an unpleasant moment in your own life and you may see that this is so.

Chances are that if you are feeling sad, you are telling yourself things that are negative and sad.  Thinking that the situation is terrible, that there is no end to it in sight, that you aren’t able to do anything about it, and that it is your fault, are all depressing things to tell yourself.  Thinking this way can become a habit if you do it enough.

Usually, when people tell themselves unpleasant things all the time it is out of habit, not because those things are really true.  If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts, stop.  Simply stopping a negative thought can make you feel better.  See if what you are telling yourself is really true.

 

Anxiety

Worry about symptoms and problems at work are the main causes of anxiety for most people.  Anxiety should not be a problem for you if you understand that your symptoms are a normal part of recovery.  Get enough rest and gradually increase your responsibilities at work.

If you are feeling anxious, you may be telling yourself things that are making you feel that way.  Usually, when people worry all the time it is out of habit, not because the things that they are telling themselves are really true.  The steps you need to take to solve a problem will be the same when you are calm as they would be if you were anxious.  If you find yourself thinking anxious thoughts, stop.  Simply stopping an anxious thought can make you feel better.  See if what you are telling yourself is really true.