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Old 06-28-2011, 07:50 PM
Mark in Idaho Mark in Idaho is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Somewhere near here
Posts: 11,427
15 yr Member
Mark in Idaho Mark in Idaho is offline
Legendary
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Somewhere near here
Posts: 11,427
15 yr Member
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seaira,

Welcome to Neurotalk. Sorry for your reason for being here.

My first suggestion is for you to download the TBI Survival Guide at www.tbiguide.com and print it out. It may take some time to get through it but there is great knowledge in it.

The anger issues is a common problem. It will be a great help if your husband can get enough counseling to understand that his anger is a manifestation of his injury. Until he does, he will personalize his reason for being angry and justify his anger. This is not helpful. When he understands that he gets angry more due to his brain malfunctioning, he may be able to start making some though choices.

I had to learn to just walk away. Otherwise, I knew things would get bad.

He also needs help with understanding and recognizing when his anger triggers are starting to build. As his wife, it will be helpful if you can agree on a signal that the triggers/signs are building. My wife can tell by the look on my face when I need to leave the scene before trouble starts.

The concept for the two of you to work on is "Taking every though captive." When his thoughts start to take control, he does have a choice to stop them early before they become uncontrollable. This discussion needs to be done in a non-judgmental way. He already feels miserable. He does not need to feel worse.

Making a list of "Plans of action" for different situations can be worthwhile. You can have a saying like: Didn't you say you needed some fresh air? be prepared for him to walk out and leave you to cover for him.

It can be helpful to be open and honest with others. Something like: Since his car accident and head injury, he has been struggling with anger and over-reacting. It is a common symptoms of his kind of injury. We are working to help him avoid such situations.

You will be surprised to see how compassionate people will be when they understand his condition. Everybody who has to interact with me regularly knows that I suffer from a brain injury. They know that I will not get involved in certain situations or tasks.

After you have read the TBI Guide, feel free to post questions here. There are many different ways to accommodate PCS symptoms and limitations. I have been developing my bag of tricks since 1974.

As I stated in a recent post, it is not whether the glass is half full or half empty. It is whether the glass that is the right size. (too big) Current culture tries to cram too much into life. The simpler life of many of us with persistent PCS can be life changing. We have to STOP to think. With that comes a chance to stop to smell the roses, as the saying goes.

btw, It is helpful if posts do not have more than five or six lines before a paragraph space. Many of us struggle to follow from the end of one line to the start of the next. I cut and pasted seaira's post into MSWord and added spacing so I could read it.

My best to you and your hubby,
__________________
Mark in Idaho

"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

Last edited by Mark in Idaho; 06-28-2011 at 08:10 PM.
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