Lazy?
 

I've been "on vacation" for two months now. I have been sitting around and doing nothing. It's been amazing, and I feel like a completely different person.

A lot of the "old me" is returning. I am less affected by stimuli, my personality is returning, I can think more clearly, I am more articulate, and life is not as overwhelming - to list a few examples.

My concern is - I still have no impetus to get anything accomplished. This didn't concern me when my other symptoms were in full force. However, now that they are lessening, shouldn't this symptom lesson as well?

Did I somehow develop laziness as part of my character while I was sitting around doing nothing? Am I using PCS as a crutch to not have to do anything?

Why is it still so difficult for me to accomplish anything - even if it's simple and even if it really needs to get done?

Any takes on this?

There are areas of the brain that handle the implementation, planning, organizing that we do. Initiation can be really difficult for PCS suffers. This was one of my big problems as well. I read about it in a TBI and PCS book that describes this phenomenon. So that area of the brain may still have some healing to do and once more time has passed, it may become easier to initiate things, carry out tasks and organize your day.

I dont think you are necessarily being lazy. But also the fact that you are taking it easy will help overall to help your brain heal. Its another one of those parts of PCS that others would have a hard time understanding why its so difficult for you to get things done.

Maybe try listing one or two main tasks you absolutely must get done in a day to start. That way you dont overload yourself with tasks that you give up completely on getting anything done. Doing too much may even set you back, so set some small goals for yourself that are attainable and in the end, make you feel accomplished and less lazy. Good luck!!!

What else are vacations for?
 

Hi Katie,
Two months is a tiny fraction of your life. Thank goodness that you have been recovering. You mention recovering your personality, being more articulate, thinking more clearly. Great! So, whatever you are doing don't stop! If that is being "on vacation" then stay on vacation as long as you can.

A lot of us are forced back to work before we are really ready for it and that can hinder someone's recovery. If you have the luxury of not having to do this, take full advantage. Two months is nothing if it can make a different to the rest of your life.

You might be feeling improved but I bet that you haven't fully recovered, or else you would be back doing what you were doing before. Your first task is to recover as much as you can. After that, then worry about what you should be doing with your time and talents.

I have a brain injury and I found that starting tasks was particularly difficult; all that organizing was exhausting. The brain is a complex organ, perhaps the most complex thing in the universe, and there are specialist parts involved in motivation and organizing. Perhaps those parts of your brain have not fully recovered. Just them a chance before pushing them to do things that they aren't really ready for. If you don't feel like it then perhaps those feelings are for a reason, namely that you need more time to recover.

So, don't push it when things are going so well.

Best of luck,
Concussed Scientist

It took me a long time to initiate and start tasks during my recovery. However, you have to be patient with yourself - its tempting to be fatalistic and assume that your personality has been forever changed, but if you attribute it to your personality and not your injury, you are even less likely to accomplish anything.

I struggled with that for awhile, and it took me over a year to get a job, but now I have made it into a very competitive graduate program and am doing fine, so in essence, be patient - 2 months is really not that long.

I'm a very organized go-getter. I lost a lot of drive and motivation with my concusion. It's slowly coming back. I'm in month 6 I think and I'm finding myself becoming who I used to be but every step is so tiny towards that goal. You just have to let yourself be how you are for now. It'll change again.