I developed severe PTSD following my first concussion despite the fact that the event would not seem to be particularly traumatic to an outside observer. People think that PTSD only shows up in combat veterans and rape victims, but that's not the case at all. Small events cause PTSD for people all the time - some people are just more susceptible to that sort of a reaction than others. For the record, PTSD also causes profound depression in many cases.

You've definitely been through a lot Mark, but I think you need to open up your mind a little bit in relation to other people's experiences. The general tone of your posts thus far seems to have assumed a "it's true for me, therefore it's true for everyone" tone. Perhaps more than any other injury a person can have, no two brain injuries are the same, no two recoveries from brain injuries are the same, and no two set of post concussion limitations are the same either.

My point here is just that you know nothing about what's going to happen in Tommy's life over the next 5 years, nor do you know the full scope of what's going on in Tommy's life - or Tommy's brain - right now. Just a suggestion, but I would appreciate it going for if you used your past experiences to provide helpful suggestions ("this worked well for me...", "you might want to try...", "sometimes it helps when I...") instead of ultimatums. I personally find your "do not expect total recovery" statement offensive. Who are you to say whether Tommy should expect total recovery? This world has seen far stranger occurrences than a young kid coming all the way back from a head injury.

Sorry if this comes across as being a bit caustic, but I just get very irked when people take a "you won't do this" or "you will do this" approach to talking to people about their health. Healing is a personal thing, regardless of what you tell them, people will find out for themselves what they can and cannot do, and what changes they are and are not willing to accept into their lives.