wbgiv,

Glad to hear your son is tolerating hospitalization. Psychiatric hospitalization can be tough.

The offer of funding for Baseline testing is helpful but will be meaningless unless the coaches and trainers have a way to identify those who need post head impact testing. Players try to avoid reporting head impacts so they do not get pulled from play.

Please do not feel anxious about his progress. Nobody can even suggest a timeline for his recovery or his depression issues. Doctors try to give timelines that are not based on science.

If you can find any manual tasks for him to do, they can help him feel busy. The hands can not move any faster than an injured brain can process. Solitaire with real cards, working with clay, painting, drawing, drafting, knitting, crocheting, (NFL players often knit or crochet to help their brains settle down after a game.) and other simple manipulative tasks can be very beneficial.

I spent hours sorting through a huge collection of screws, nuts and bolts. The simplicity of picking up a piece and deciding what jar or pile to put it in allowed me to feel productive. The opportunity to feel productive or at least accomplish forward movement with a task is a great help.

Maybe he can try to learn card tricks or some other skills that require manual practice.

I think you need to prepare for a long road ahead. If he recovers sooner, great but depression and the meds that treat it will likely slow his recovery.

Also, if he has a new skill (card tricks) to use in a social setting, he will have something besides the sports he must avoid.

I spent years struggling with depression after my concussion in 1965 at 10 years old. The fact that you are aware of his depression now is a plus for your son.

My vitamin regimen posted in the sticky at the top was prescribed for me by a psychiatrist in 1982 when I suffered a depressive episode. It makes a world of difference in my ability to tolerate stress.

I hope this helps.

My best to you.