[u2nance]

Hi, is there anyone out there dealing with a TBI and the resulting depression? I had a mild TBI 5 years ago but have had so much to deal with as a result: cognitive, sequential, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and the usual that life dishes out!

Anyone there???

[googley]

Hi,
Welcome to the forum. You may want to re post in the depression forum also. There may be people there (can't promise) with depression and TBI.

[Crew]

u2nace,

I have TBI and suffer from mild depression some days, deep depression other days plus I'm dissociative and have a horrible back with pain where the pain disables my body and have to use wonderful wheelchair, but I guess it could be worse, I could have phatom pain.

Have you tried celtic quite or boats in the ocean near the pier music. That seem to help me, it would be interesting to know what you do to try to overcome the depression.

So yes, I can relate!!!

Hey if you have time today @ 1:00pm to 3:00pm est a chronic conditions, Disabilites and Chronic Pain chat group meets. If you would like your more than to come check out the group that meets every Sunday. It's just a place that talks about the stuggles of dealing with "life" and chronic conditions. Oh I'm sorry, I'm ThaCrew but you can call me Crew and hey and hope to see more of you around. Your welcome to PM if you ever care to chat.
Good day ThaCrew

[(JD)]

I can relate some too. What kind of therapy have you had? I found that even though I wasn't sent to a head trauma support unit, there was a lot of info (that helped me cope )right online. It was somewhat comforting to know that my symptoms were real and there were ways to cope or compensate.

Depression often follows such a thing. Try and tell yourself that you won't feel this bad forever. Seek out a counselor if you can, or join a free support group through your local hospital maybe.

[Lost71]

What Sky said about support groups. Maybe there is a head injuries support group near where you live? They usually meet once a week and have various social activities.

[shezbut]

Originally Posted by u2nance

Hi, is there anyone out there dealing with a TBI and the resulting depression?

Yes, there are fortunately many of us with TBI's. The majority of those with "mild" TBI's do struggle emotionally as a result of the injury. Those outside of TBI world simply cannot see or relate to the differences we feel inside. As a result, we feel more alone, stressed, and strange than we've ever felt.

I had a mild TBI 3/07. I slipped on the ice, and fell on my head. A plate in my head shifted on impact, swelled, and bled a litttle. Thankfully, due to brain surgery 3/06, I have extra space in my head for the fluid and blood & didn't require drainage. It's a little thing I try to remind myself of ~ to be thankful that I didn't need another surgery.

I'm past the "why me?" phase, thank goodness! Depression still has a good hold of me, and certain negative personality characteristics I have intensified ~ yay! Memory struggles worsened (word-finding and recall are big toughies for me). I know that I'm not alone in any of these struggles...which does offer some emotional relief, sometimes.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out resources in your area. A huge favorite resource I discovered online http://www.tbiguide.com
Dr. Glen Johnson provides lots of information at the site, as well as links to other informative and supportive sites. My absolute favorite chat site is http://www.tbichat.org

I hope that you find some relief very soon. Best wishes to you!
Shez

[daggy]

u2nance such a complicated topic but there are a few of us around

[eskielover]

Not going through it personally, but definitely have a huge empathy after the huge accident in front of my home last year that I was first at the scene, calling for the paramedics.....the driver was a young boy just graduated from highschool was flying down the road as people like to do for the rollercoaster effect.....100mph....flew off the road & rolled through the fence & flipped.....they were so worried at the time about the fence post that they didn't realize about the TBI until later that night in the hospital when they fianlly air lifted him to the university hospital. The sad thing is that he now has the mental capacity of a 4 year old & it will never be much better for him.

I can only imaging the struggles he is going through let alone family & friends......It was my first real experience with the effects of TBI & how devistating it is at even a lesser stage. I can definitely understand how depression is associated with is.

Glad there are support groups there where each can talk through the rough times.....the internet is definitely a wonderful tool that didn't exist when I first started having any problems.....there is wonderful support communities for all the different things we struggle with.

Wish you the best.....& know that others who haven't actually experienced it definitely care & understand the struggle,

Eskielover

[DonnaE]

Originally Posted by u2nance

Hi, is there anyone out there dealing with a TBI and the resulting depression? I had a mild TBI 5 years ago but have had so much to deal with as a result: cognitive, sequential, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and the usual that life dishes out!

Anyone there???

Hi, I have had 2 severe TBIs, the worst one on my 5th birthday (bad fall), 2nd about 20 years later (home invasion & assault), a mild one at age 11 (broken jaw & concussion). I didn't know until a few months ago that this was why I have had chronic depression and a host of other problems that have caused great emotional and physical pain for 45 years. While I am now permanently disabled physically, it was both a shock and a relief to know what was wrong with me. Once I knew what was wrong, then I could get past that and work on what I needed and what I could do about it.

Since I cannot take antidepressants due to the brain damage, what helped me was to get with a good counselor trained in dialectical behavior training and cognitive behavior therapy to help me learn coping skills, that helped me to work from where I am right now, cognitively and functionally. I also got hooked up with a good neurologist who understood the implications of my injuries, and she helps me to work with the other specialists to address the brain part of the physical problems to find safe medical options. It's all a process.

But the depression is a biggie on so many levels, that only starts at how it affects one's subjective feelings. That kind of stuff on a chronic basis can hurt the rest of your body, too, not only mood, so I totally understand and empathize. I don't pretend to know what is best for you, and I know that each of us has to discover what works FOR US, and I support you choosing what makes sense FOR YOU. That being said, I have discovered a few things that are fairly simple to do, that have helped ME, that may, or may not, be helpful for you. I'm more than happy to share a few things that I have tried that worked, even some things that didn't work so well, if that would be helpful for you, and hopefully we will both find other things that are helpful along the way. Let me know what would feel most supportive right now.

With kindest regards, Donna E.

[DonnaE]

[quote=shezbut;1139062].....

If you haven't already, be sure to check out resources in your area. A huge favorite resource I discovered online......

Thank you for posting these links! I've been looking for support groups myself!

With kindest regards, Donna E.

[wickedwings]

I had ended up with a brain lesion 4 years ago, which eventually was diagnosed as a stroke. The docs don't know what caused it. When it happened, it had ruined the effectiveness of my antidepressants and I spiraled into deep depression that lasted over 2 years. Yes, strokes can cause depression as well as TBI can. I understand the consequences are very similar.