Hi Ben,

You seem to be worried again about new things or events. I am sorry to see this, and I hope this will pass soon. All the things that you mentioned should be on your list of "non concussive or subconcussive impacts".

In my experience, it is perfectly possible to have a fairly long relapse after an innocuous event. In the last Fall I inadvertently hit my sternum against a table and I felt the consequences of this for several weeks. But this does not mean that we should be worried about the long-term effects. Hitting one's sternum against a table might cause a relapse, but it does not cause a concussion. I think the same applies to all the events you are worried about.

There is another thought that I would like to share with you, as it sometimes helps me to reduce my anxiety. This thought consists in imagining ourselves in 20 years talking about the important events in our life, and more specifically about the events that had some permanent effects on our health.

I think everyone on this board (including ourselves) would tell stories about really big events or injuries. No one would start her/his speech by saying "my brain has been permanently damaged because one day the hairdresser was a bit rough", or "my life has been changed permanently because one day my girlfriend kissed me a bit too hard". People would laugh at us if we made such statements, and they would be right! So, even if we feel really awful now, I think it helps to remember that our long-term self will probably have forgotten about the event entirely.

To be transparent, I am writing this in the middle of a pretty bad relapse that started yesterday after I had to brake abruptly while driving. The symptoms are real, that sucks, and that makes me somewhat anxious. But thinking that, in some time, I will have completely forgotten about this event, is a reassuring thought.

I also have a question for you: have you tried practicing the "willpower exercise" with self-talk that I suggested in a previous post? Have you found it useful or not, feasible or not, ...?