Hi I just joined. I have had post concussion syndrome since a concussion last year. I've just been feeling very confused and alone, especially since I've been getting so much conflicting advice from different health care providers. Some have no knowledge of PCS and think it's just made up, and others are empathetic but honestly don't know how to help me. I have had issues with mental health and learning disability stuff prior to my concussion, so it's also hard for me to tell what is regular issues for me and what isn't.

And now I'm looking at continuing my university studies but I don't know if I can do it. It's really risky, and some people are advising me to just go ahead with it because it "shouldn't be any different than before" and others are advising I take it slow. But family is getting impatient with me to finish my studies. I don't know. I'm exhausted.

Anyways. Hello!

Hello psycnerd,
Welcome to the NeuroTalk Support Groups.

I'm sorry that you've been dealing with PCS since your concussion last year. Unfortunately it seems to be the same situation everywhere, with some medical practitioners well informed and others not so much.

Finding good holistic support is essential and particularly if symptoms are persisting.

Make use of any support systems you have at Uni as well.You may find that doing fewer subjects for a semester helps, but you may not actually need to do that if you get certain issues under control.

You haven't mentioned exactly what you've dealt with in the past, but I've found that because anxiety and depression can be part of the post concussion syndrome anyway, it can be difficult to know exactly what is going on. This can be a real problem especially for those of us who have some prior psychological challenges e.g. anxiety 'disorders', depression etc..

It's really important to address any persistent or exacerbated psychological problems just as much as the physical aspects after a concussion.

Over on the TBI and PCS forum there are a lot of excellent informational posts. So many in fact that it can be a little overwhelming sometimes I find. I usually will use the search function. e.g. if you're having vision problems, run a search for that specifically and you'll come up with many posts. Look for other posts regarding study and university. There are many and some of their tips may be helpful.

Traumatic Brain Injury and PCS Forum

https://www.neurotalk.org/search.php
In this search forum feature you can just click on the Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Concussion Forum. I'm sure you'll figure it out.

All the best to you and try to get some student counselling regarding your studies so that you can continue at a pace that's suitable. Just my thoughts.

Welcome psycnerd.

Welcome, psycnerd!

I'm not an authority on post-concussion syndrome but I do know that there is a real post-concussion syndrome that isn't imagined. I can't say whether you have that condition, but since you're in doubt about returning to your studies, I do have a suggestion.

If you look carefully at your university handbook/catalog, you'll probably find out that you can ease into a degree program in various ways--usually by taking one course at a time, or at least taking fewer courses than the usual student load. There might be some strings attached to this arrangement, and so you should read up on it carefully and maybe ask your adviser about how to do that.

If you could ease back into it slowly, you could get a better idea of just how much you're up to doing, and you could gradually work up to more of a work load.