Quote:
Originally Posted by nwsmith1984
Thanks...I just tried the Audiobook thing. I downloaded an app on my smart phone that has like 3800 audio books. Well..I tried a couple different books but had a hard time following along in the beginning. Too many description words??? Also there is people here at the house and they are making too much noise. I'm gonna try again later tonight when I feel up to looking for some headphones.
How far were you in to your recovery when the "overtaxing" thing started??
Yeah I should just stop trying...I try like once every week that passes and it's discouraging every time. Its just so frustrating that I'm still this sensitive after 7 months. Every month that passes without improvement just brings more anxiety.
There's a part of me that wants to continue to try, little by little because I've heard talk about the brain needing to create new pathways and such. So...I sometimes think that trying to push my brain a little is beneficial.
LOL, it's cool bro!! Yeah...I find that browsing from my phone is a lot easier on my brain. I completely gave up on video games in November.
Hi again  ...
I've tried all types of different shows. One thing I noticed, if I hook my TV up to my laptop and stream TV shows from the internet...I could watch more. I guess because the quality is so low?? I don't know.
When did you start watching TV again?
...and I miss TV!!! Yes, I do. My favorite show is King of Queens...it's been off the air for awhile but that show always gives me a laugh!! I miss a lot of things. The only thing I can do is lay in bed, do light house work, go for short walks, light internet browsing from my phone and small talk with the family. Yes, it's freakin' boring...I know it's what I need to do in order to heal my brain...It's just...like I said, frustrating that it's been so long without an improvement.
I don't know how to sew...I never had anyone to show me how to do it...and I'm not so sure my brain could handle learning a new skill right now??? Doing math is way out of the question lol..I was horrible at math before the injury and I'm even worse now. I'll try some crossword puzzles, thanks for the suggestions EsthersDoll .
I feel like vegging around at the house kinda makes me worse at times? I'll try to explain...like my social/people skills are diminishing due to not being in contact with hardly anyone. Also my brain isn't being stimulated by much to retrain it and create new pathways because if I do ANYTHING my brain gets overtaxed super fast.
Still waiting for that magic brain injury pill... |
When you find that pill, please post about it so we can all get one.
In all honesty, I hadn't watched TV for personal entertainment for about 10 years before the injury. I work in the entertainment industry, so I watched stuff on monitors at work, for work and on stage etc. but that's what I got paid to do. I had stopped enjoying doing it personally for the most part and my lifestyle was very active. I did like to watch foreign and art-house films though. (Neither of which can I handle yet still.)
After the injury, it became apparent to my boyfriend and I that I needed a TV to help entertain me because I couldn't be active anymore. I think we bought the TV we have at some point in April and I started playing old video games from the 90's that we downloaded to the Wii and I watched some very tame stuff on Netflix - so that would have been about 9 months after the initial injury. Then we got Cable in July or August and that would have been about a year after the initial injury. We just recently switched to Dish Network and I was watching a LOT there from August thru December.
During that time though, a lot of my cognitive functioning has returned, so now it's not as entertaining to me as it was during those months. And that's perfectly fine with me.
I'm hoping my cognitive functioning continues to improve to a point where I can watch foreign and art-house films on a reliable and regular basis again.
If people are making too much noise for you to follow an audio book, maybe that's the same reason it's too hard for you to follow a TV, but you're so overloaded that you don't even realize it. I mean, when our brains work well, the TV can usually drown out the background noise, but when we're recovering from a tbi, all the background and foreground noise isn't filtered the same way, so it's way overstimulating.
And I agree with Eowyn that TV is designed to be very stimulating. Older shows (like 10-50 years older) will do that much less so because of the design and editing trends. The older the show, most likely, the less stimulating it is in general. Maybe try to watch some old classics. Maybe try to hook up a pair of noise-canceling headphones to the TV set to help with everyone around you making so much noise. (I wish they wouldn't do that. I wish your family understood better what you're going through and what you need in order to get better.)
I don't know if you have Netflix, or if you like Star Trek - but I re-watched the entire Next Generation series and had a blast doing it.
I know it's frustrating. Believe me I know! But just keep at it.