supreme818,

Sorry to hear about your struggles. Been there, done that, changed majors at SJSU back in 1974.

First, go to www.tbiguide.com and download and print the TBI Survival Guide. It will help you understand how your brain is behaving.

You are right at establishing new organizational habits. This is a priority. You need to be diligent in setting up organizational systems. Note cards, a day timer or PDA, alarms, etc. to remind you to do a task. Cell phones and smart phones can do many of these tasks for you.

Learn to over organize so that you can have over-learned skills to fall back on if you suffer another concussion and become even more symptomatic.

Your realization of the impact of stress is also a big head start. Stress is the kiss of death to PCS. Your symptoms will jump out and bite you when stress hits.

There are two parts to stress. You can moderate both.

Environmental stress can be planned around and avoided. Simplify your living environment. Get control of both visual and auditory stimuli. In class, sit at the front of the room to avoid looking at the backs of heads and all that distraction.

You can try foam ear plugs to block background noise. I need sun glasses to avoid bright lights.

Emotional or reactive stress is something you need to choose to control. You will need to learn to pick your battles. Many issues we get stressed over are not worth the effort. It does not help our situation. In fact, we make our problems worse by fretting and pushing too hard.

There are things you can influence and things that you can't. Learn the Serenity Prayer. Make choices to let go of the things that you cannot change.

Get to student health services and seek help. There are not many therapies to help you heal but there are strategies to help you cope. You have access to testing accommodations and other assistance. See if someone can help you get to understand the new you. You may never get the old you back.

But that is OK. You can still live a full and productive life without the old you. The social struggles are very common. You can learn how to work through these struggles.

You likely do not process social cues as well as you did in the past. If any of your past friends might be worth pursuing, have then read the TBI Survival Guide. You need to find some friends who can be your advocate and help you manage you struggles.

When they realize that you did not morph into a jerk but instead have undergone some neurological changes, the true friends will become evident and know how to stick by you. Say good bye to drinking buddies. Alcohol and PCS do not mix.

Do a search for nutrition or vitamins and read my and others' past posts. Your brain needs extra nutrition to handle the stresses it is enduring.

There are a few important factors. Your brain needs:
good sleep,
low stress,
good nutrition,
and plenty of time.

As a last note, you can help some of us out by posting in short paragraphs. I cannot read long paragraphs very well. I cannot track to the start of the next line. These visual struggles are common.

Let us know how you are doing. There is a wealth of experience, wisdom and compassion in this group.

My best to you.