Even relatively mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can impact your life in unexpected ways, from interfering with your employment to reducing vision and motor skills. Contacting an experienced attorney to hold the negligent parties responsible is just one aspect of the recovery process. It is just as important to discover coping mechanisms to learn to live with your new normal.
Coping With Difficulties After Your TBI Diagnosis
While surgeries, medication, and therapy may help to mitigate some of the symptoms, unfortunately, there is no direct cure for brain injury. That means you can expect to deal with the repercussions of sustaining a head wound for the rest of your life. Depending on the cause and severity of the injury, those repercussions may include a range of cognitive, behavioral, language, and vision difficulties.
While coping with those changes can be challenging, there are a variety of effective ways to improve your overall quality of life after a TBI, such as:
- Avoiding unnecessary stress. Taking breaks when you experience frustration is critical, as is explaining your diagnosis to family and friends and avoiding situations where speech problems or emotional outbursts may cause friction in relationships.
- Consulting the experts. Speech, language, and occupational therapists can all help you in improving skills and retaining employment even after a serious TBI.
- Finding a support group. Many TBI victims find it helpful to join a group of people with firsthand knowledge about their situation and what they are going through.
- Making changes to your work schedule. After a brain injury, you may not be able to complete the same amount of work as before. Make sure to discuss needed changes to your responsibilities with your manager and fellow co-workers.
- Revising expectations. Be honest with your spouse, children, co-workers, doctors, teachers, and caregivers about what you need so appropriate accommodations can be made to your daily life.
- Striving for consistency. Make a schedule and stick to it, and set and review realistic goals for what you want to achieve in the weeks and months ahead during your recovery.
Don’t Let a TBI Stop You From Enjoying Life
Not sure where to start? Set up a consultation with a traumatic brain injury attorney to discuss these topics further. An attorney can help you recover damages for your medical bills, suffering, and loss of wages while connecting you with resources to learn about effective coping mechanisms.