Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

Your struggle is that every time you have an increase in symptoms, you try to attribute those symptoms to new brain damage. This is a knowledge issue, not an anxiety issue. You start resolving this by believing that a return of symptoms without a serious impact force does not mean brain damage.

Try to think of it this way.

If you smash your thumb and it turns black and blue in the nail bed, you will experience pain and tenderness. Over time, that pain will subside. But, bumping that thumb can cause all of the pain and tenderness to come back. The nerves were triggered without causing any further damage to the thumb.

Bud puts it this way. If the bump or jostle did not cause you to be concerned or have symptoms before your recent concussion, that same level of bump or jostle is not causing damage now. It may cause a return of symptoms but that is not due to new damage.

When you can start to believe this concept to be true, you will start doing much better. It is a foundational fact to reducing your anxiety.