Survival Stories
 

My brain fog is really bad today (along with all my other symptoms), so this is more difficult than usual. But I'm tired of sitting around in the dark by myself doing nothing, so I have to post.

Here are some survival stories. The details are gruesome, but the overall message in each case is one of hope. These stories show us just how much we are capable of enduring and still bouncing back.

1. Viktor Frankl

Viktor Frankl spent two-and-a-half years in concentration camps and managed to survive by the skin of his teeth. His family members were not as fortunate. After his liberation, he went on to become one of the most successful and influential psychiatrists in the world. He is the author of the book Man's Search for Meaning, which is the best book on suffering I've ever read.

http://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Me...8839710&sr=8-1

2. James Stockdale

James Stockdale was a POW in Vietnam for seven-and-a-half years, including four years in solitary confinement. He was subjected to shockingly brutal treatment. After this incredible ordeal, he somehow managed to publish several books and become Ross Perot's vice presidential candidate in 1992.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stockdale

3. Louis Zamperini

At the beginning of the 1940s, Louis Zamperini was poised to win an Olympic gold medal and become the first person to ever break the 4-minute mile. Instead of going to the 1940 Olympics, which were canceled, he was later drafted into WWII. In early 1943, his plane was shot down over the Pacific Ocean and he and a fellow soldier spent 47 days on a life raft with no provisions. After drifting over 1000 miles, he was captured by the Japanese and spent the next 2 years under horrific conditions in Japanese POW camps. After the war, he eventually managed to forgive his tormentors and go on to live a long and fulfilling life. His tale is the subject of Laura Hillenbrand's book Unbroken:

http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-World...8840355&sr=8-1

We in this forum are undergoing horrible suffering of a different kind--but it is terrible nonetheless. But our suffering will not last forever, and while some of us may not recover 100%, the vast majority of us will recover much of what we have lost. Even if you have lost your career (as is looking more and more likely in my case), there is always hope for you to rebuild your life after your injury. There is no telling who you might meet, what opportunities might greet you, or what wonderful experiences you may yet have. You might grow in wonderful and unexpected ways. You may discover a hidden talent or a new interest.

Do not lose hope that you can rebuild your life and find meaning and contentment again. We are in a dark time, but like those people I mentioned above, we have the power to rise above our circumstances and come out on the other end of our ordeals as better people.

Pete

These are some very good and inspirational stories you posted...Thanks!

...and your so right. Its just getting through this dark time that is the hardest....it just doesn't seem like there is a light at the end of the tunnel at times. Thank you for the stories you posted and the encouraging words to follow them.

This actually kinda made my day.

P.S. Your not the only one hiding out in the dark tonight. I'm laying here doing the same...browsing from my dimly lit smart phone...hahaha...and my day has probably gone the same as your's.

Way to go, Xanadu. Way to mess up MY pity party! :o

We've had a rough start to 2012 with 2 break-ins in our garage losing $8000 in tools the first time and a $10,000 Harley the 2nd time. Insurance denied the first claim and the 2nd is pending. We moved from our home of 23 years to one of our smaller rentals so it is easier for hubby to get around and less stairs for him to fall on, etc. Thus, Farm Bureau says they won't pay because we weren't occupying the house at that time. Nevermind we are out there 3 - 5 times every week doing stuff...

So, I've gone from feeling completely overwhelmed to slightly beyond completely overwhelmed.

So I thank you for your timely reminder (I know it was directed at those of you with PCS, but I have PCS by association :winky: ).

Amy,

Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your struggles. That has to be hard to deal with on top of your husbands struggles with PCS. I hope things turn around for you guys real soon.

A couple survival stories from mountaineering.... I think there are movies and books. But you might be able to find details on Wikipedia or something.

1) Touching the Void - guy fell into a crevasse and dragged himself across a boulder field with one (maybe two?) broken legs to find help

2) 127 hours - dude trapped by a boulder all by himself who ended up CUTTING OFF HIS OWN ARM to escape

3) Beck Weathers was left for dead but survived the 1996 Everest disaster - depicted in the IMAX film Everest and the book Into Thin Air

Awesome additions, Eowyn. All three of those stories are amazing. I had forgotten about Touching the Void; that one is really incredible.

One challenge most if not all of those survival stories do no include is muddled thinking and the organic propensity for depression. I have often thought about how I would do on my own. I may be fine but also may slowly sink into a state of inability to make positive choices about my own care. I know that from time to time, I can not get out of my own way. Thankfully, I have a wonderful wife to spur me on.

Our minds have an innate sense of self survival. I am not sure that innate sense stays intact after brain injuries, at least for some.

Fortunately, this forum offers me to opportunity to see the many success I have had over the years as I have found ways to overcome many of my struggles.

Well, it's hard to say whether any of these people dealt with those challenges. I can't imagine that Stockdale would have been thinking clearly while being tortured, but I guess I can't really say. But I definitely agree that some of us are born with a propensity for depression and others are born optimists. There are mountains and mountains of research confirming this, and it survives all of the attempts at debunking by the "blank slaters." And the depressive mindset presents its own unique set of challenges--no doubt about that.

But I don't think that that means that those of us with depression, muddled thinking, and brain injuries cannot also overcome extraordinary hurdles. On the contrary, there are many stories of people coming back from such injuries and having fulfilling lives (some of which are in the sticky above).

It's awful. It was quite difficult enough fending for myself and dealing with severe health problems before my brain injury; since then, it has nearly broken me. Fortunately, I was able to pull off a pretty major change in attitude early this year, and I intend on keeping it.

It's been immensely valuable for me as well.

Pete,

I think you are mixing up things. Depression and being or not being an optimist have no connection. Depression is an illness, not a view of the world. An optimist can become severely depressed. A pessimist can also not be depressed. The nurture vs nature has too many permutations to state any conclusions factually.

Are there biological/genetic issues that increase the risk of depression? Probably, just like there are stronger and weaker immune systems that appear to be familial oriented. In fact, weakened immune systems could be considered a marker for increased risk of depression.

A pilot or even bombardier are chosen from a highly selective group of people.

My point is we can all learn to accept our condition and do the best with it. We do not need to rise to greatness to be successful with our affliction. The nature of brain injury is such that we will always have some limitations in our future regardless of whether we choose to push against those limits or not. The injury and anxiety of constantly pushing against those limitations can limit the success we can have had we just been more tolerant of our limits.

I, for example, need to make some decision early in my working life. I lived and worked in the middle of the Silicon Valley tech boom. I could have easily pursued and been successful in the high tech industry. Instead, I realized then accepted how stress was counterproductive to successful interpersonal relationships and my own well-being because of the roller coaster ride stress caused.

I chose a simpler path and was successful in a simpler way. No start-up hi-tech companies behind me, just a family raised with a father/husband present but still struggling with a lesser roller coaster of PCS. My wife never had to work for an income but we were not wealthy either.

This despite my academic history of high achievement even with my cognitive difficulties.

As I have said, I could have been much more financially successful in business but I would have been miserable to live with.

There are many survivor books written by mTBI, TBI and concussion survivors who have had to reinvent their lives. Doctors who become instructors and mentors because their cognitive skills limit practicing medicine, and many others who found an entirely different direction with a bigger impact on others due to what they learned about living in adversity.

We can be successful and still live in adversity. It is all relative.

Then, some move on but never get past their adversity. They wallow in anger and spite. Gail Denton, the author of Brain Lash sounds like she is carrying a huge load of anger and spite.

Success to me is releasing this anger and spite about our injury and limitations. Then, we go one living a successful life.

Muddled thinking is definitely one of the challenges with the high altitude mountaineering situations. I think this may be why I relate to them. People feel very confused and disoriented and are only able to focus on the one next thing they need to do. Any more than that is overwhelming. I sure feel like that a LOT of days!!

I'm pretty sure I'm not mixed up, but we may be talking past each other. First, depression is an illness that affects and colors one's view of the world; these are not mutually exclusive. And one's view of the world can create feedback into maintaining a depressed mindset. Second, to say that depression has no connection with whether one is an optimist is really overstated. One of the defining features of depression is negative thinking--i.e. the opposite of optimism. (Perhaps you and I are using the word 'optimist' in different ways. I'm thinking of it as synonymous with 'positive thinking and looking on the bright side of life'.) Some people are biologically more prone to this than others; this is very well-established in science. If you think negatively and always focus on the negative side of life, you will likely get depressed...and if you have a chronically depressed mood, this infects your thinking with still more negativity. I think those of us who have suffered from depression all know this cycle well. My point was not to suggest that some of us are doomed from the start and others are blessed from the start, nor was it to suggest that we can't do anything about our depression. I don't believe those things at all, but I do believe that for some folks, there is more of an uphill battle from the start. I'm talking about tendencies, not biological determinism.

Absolutely. I never said otherwise, but perhaps I wasn't clear enough in expressing my point. I was talking about tendencies--not necessary connections. And in any case, it doesn't follow from this that optimism and depression are not connected in any way.

I completely agree.

Well said. I would do well to heed this advice.

You put depression and optimism on opposite ends of the same scale. Optimism and pessimism are opposite ends of the scale and are normal thought processes, good or bad but not abnormal. Pessimism has its strengths.

btw, I am an optimist and dreamer. I also use a dose of reality to temper my optimism. The risks I am willing to take are much greater than the risks I am willing to put on my family. So, at times, I need to take the pessimist role to protect or safeguard my family.

Depression is an illness. Maybe I should put it this way. Optimism can cause depression as much as pessimism can. It is not the positive or negative view of life that causes depression.

Vegetarianism can be as much of a cause or contributor to depression as pessimism. Both need discipline to avoid the depression factor. The low availability of BCAA's in vegetarianism can lead to deficiencies as do other amino acid deficiencies. Inadequate B vitamins and such also feed the risk of depression.

And, yes, I know depression from the inside. I struggled with depression for decades. My vitamin and supplement regimen was started at the suggestion of a psychiatrist. He explained the ins and outs of it very well. He was not into psycho-therapy but rather proper understanding of the brain/mind and how stress and diet impacts it.

No amount of positive thinking can defeat depression if the stressors are not reduced.

The negative thinking is a symptom of depression, not the cause, although it can contribute to a cause.

There is also depression with no negative thinking at all. This flat affect depression can have a serious impact on life without any suicidal or other risky behaviors or thought processes.

My concern is the poor relationship between 'survival stories' and success with PCS.

I think there is an excellent relationship between survival stories and dealing with PCS. Survival stories have helped me out an enormous amount, especially in helping to curb suicidal ideation and the tendency to want to give up on life. In particular, it is the "long term" survival stories that inspire me: stories of people who suffered for very long times and then managed to still have successful or worthwhile lives. And what I wrote after the stories spoke directly to that. I don't know how you could possibly say that encouraging people to not give up and saying that wonderful opportunities might still greet them after their suffering doesn't translate into success with PCS. If it gives someone hope and prevents her from killing herself, I'd sure call it a success.

I understand your point about optimism and pessimism being at opposite ends of the same spectrum, and I agree. I also agree that depression can manifest itself in many different ways, and that too much optimism can lead to depression if one is severely disappointed by life. But negative thinking feeds depression like fuel feeds a fire. No, simple "positive thinking" (of the Norman Vincent Peale variety) will not cure depression, and may not even help it at all. But one of the fundamental tenets of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which is one of the most effective treatments of depression, is that by identifying unproductive thoughts and challenging ourselves to think in different ways, we can improve our mood. Maybe you prefer not to call this type of unproductive thinking 'pessimism', and if so, that's fine. We can call it whatever you like.

You're fair to point out that I was oversimplifying things earlier and not explaining myself very well. But I still think there's a pretty strong relationship between negative thinking and depression. Again, the whole point of CBT is to counteract this--or at least to correct thinking "errors" that are the hallmarks of negative thinking.

One of my biggest challenges in dealing with PCS has been to keep myself from falling into despair, especially since I spend the majority of most days housebound, in the dark, by myself, with no stimulation.

Then I read about James Stockdale, who among other things endured four years of solitary confinement in a tiny cell and still ended up living a long and successful life afterward, and it gives me hope. And no, I'm not expecting that I will necessarily accomplish amazing things later in life, but I don't have to. I can still have a worthwhile and meaningful life, and I will eventually recover to the point where I don't have to spend most of my time alone in the dark.

Success with PCS is a lot more than mere biological healing. It is learning how to emotionally cope with and make sense of the whole ordeal. Survival stories help me to do that, and I suspect that they help others to that as well. Thus, they translate into one form of success with PCS.

Pete,

You are missing an important aspect of the cause of depression. You said <and that too much optimism can lead to depression if one is severely disappointed by life.> Strong optimism alone can lead to depression without any disappointment with life. Depression is an illness caused by a buildup of toxins in the brain due to over-exertion. That over-exertion can be do to a very busy, successful and enjoyable life. The continued pursuit of enjoyment can cause depression.

The part that thinking plays in the cause of depression is not the positive or negative thoughts. It is the constant ruminating on these thoughts. When thoughts are repeatedly processed without any resolution, they cause stress with a flood of the stress hormones and chemicals. When this happens without a rest period for the brain to reset and clean out the toxins, depression will result.

A long term and very productive task can cause this same toxic build up. Without the proper rest and nutrition for the brain, depression will result. This is what happens in long cycle bi-polar disorder. The manic cycle that often feeds extraordinary cognitive production eventually causes the brain to crash full of toxins and fatigue. The deep depression that results can be life changing.

I understand how you limits and isolation can be taxing of your emotional health. If these survival stories give to support, good for you. I have rarely used them to challenge myself. My bigger support system is seeing people with much worse TBI injuries and resulting limits. Seeing them push on is highly motivating.

I have a friend who has been wheelchair bound for 20 years. Her perspective on life is amazing. Her physical limits are just an inconvenience that she needs to work-around. They do not change who she is.

Our limits due to PCS do not change who we are. They just change what we can do and how/when we can relate to others.


Hope you understand this.

My best to you as you search for answers to you photophobia. I can't imagine the frustration is can cause.

Thank you, Mark, for your condolences regarding the photophobia. It is indeed extremely difficult to deal with.

"Hope you understand this."

Mark, this is a really patronizing thing to say, as is telling me that I'm "confusing things." Before you say such things, you might want to first consider whether YOU have correctly understood the point someone else is trying to make. You keep attributing ridiculous views to me as if I'm some silly neophyte who has no clue what he's talking about. On the contrary, I've read quite a lot on depression by quite a lot of experts. I'm quite sure you have, too, and maybe the experts we have read disagree. But it seems like you are reading all of my claims in the least charitable way possible, and attributing to me bizarre claims to me that I don't make.

For instance, your comment implies that you think that by "negative thinking" I mean something like "bad thoughts popping up." OF COURSE that isn't what I mean; OF COURSE negative thinking includes rumination, and nowhere did I imply otherwise. I know quite well the difference between mere thoughts and rumination. I have suffered from horrible OCD for 16 years and have read every self-help book in existence on the subject. Understanding this distinction is of paramount importance in managing OCD.

Mark, don't get me wrong; I very much appreciate hearing your views, and find much of what you say extremely helpful. You are an invaluable contributor to this forum. But I don't appreciate the patronizing demeanor you have adopted in some of your comments above.