Quote:
Originally Posted by NormaW
Hi Everyone,
I have just been given a report, which was done a while ago (Oct 2012).
It states "in the vast majority of cases, cognitive recovery following a simple, uncomplicated mild traumatic brain injury takes place within approximately 3 months.....symptoms beyond 3 months you have to consider other factors ie. depression, anxiety etc."
It also goes on to state post concussion symptoms are endorsed by healthy individuals suffering from depression or chronic pain....
It sorts of indicates that if I undergo psychological treatment to deal with mood and anxiety my prognosis will be a lot more favorable...
The research behind this is Dr. Michael McCrea (Mild Traumatic Bain Injury and Post concussion Syndrome: The new evidence Base for Diagnosis and Treatment, Oxford University Press, 2008).
I am having a psychological testing in June and plan to undergo a course of treatment for depression/anxiety issues. While I think that stress, depression and anxiety can have a big impact on recovery, I feel this oversimplifies the situation.
FYI besides post concussion syndrome, I also have post traumatic vision syndrome, mid line shift syndrome, convergence insufficiencies, visual track, and depth perception issues.
I would be interested in anyone's comments.... Maybe I need a reality check??
Thanks
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Personally, I think you're right. I agree that depression/anxiety contribute to exacerbation of some symptoms because it's unbelievable how true "mind over matter" can be. However, with this PCS mess (as I like to call it)...when you try to do something that would potentially alleviate said stress/anxiety/depression - like read a book or watch a movie...you end up with a migraine and in my case dizziness from the strain.
Basically, if you try to push through your symptoms, you end up being worse off and from what I've read on this forum, you prolong the healing process. It seems like a lot of doctors like to minimize the fact that it takes the brain a LOOOONG time to heal! And, if you stimulate it while it's healing, you tear up the newly healed neurons!
I think we're all prone to depression and anxiety because of the restrictions that come with this mess and the fact that our lives are basically on hold because doing anything too "strenuous" makes us go backwards 5/6 steps in progress. So a lot of day to day things that need to get done have to be managed in a slower time frame than we are used to - which causes us stress. The limiting of activities that we used to be able to do (for me reading, running, swimming, taekwondo, hanging out for long periods of time, working full time) is also a trigger for depression.
I guess what I am trying to say (sorry if I don't make any sense!) is that it is a vicious circle of depression/anxiety and symptoms. There are a ton of doctors who do not understand this syndrome. I used to be one of those people who would think someone was being lazy/paranoid/melodramatic if they complained about prolonged symptoms for anything. I HAVE BEEN REFORMED!!! Anyway, interested to see what others post.