Hi,

Your story resonates with me; I also have a habit of accidentally hitting my head.

It has been demoralising and have found myself wishing for a guarantee that I would never hit my head again. I find it frustrating as it makes work and also socialising more difficult; mainly through a loss of confidence rather than physical side effects.

It is random for me as well, though always seems to happen when I feel I am doing well, recovering and making progress from the last time it happened. Or so it seems, which makes it difficult to accept.

Owing to this anxiety, I have moved from being unaware of rushing to overly vigilant about hitting my head. I think the later is potentially worse, as it means I think about my head much more and when I do hit my head it is harder because it has become my greatest fear.

Unfortunately this anxiety has also led to not knowing quite when I have hit my head. Sometimes I think I may have hit my head, though cannot be sure and would re-trace my steps and check the angles, to gain reassurance that I didn't.

That said, slowing down and being more mindful about the task at hand does help to prevent it, or it at least increase the time until it happens again. Think Mark from Idaho is right about being more aware. Most of accidents can be attributed to a lack of awareness, although this is not always on my part. I have found it difficult to convince myself that I can be aware all of the time and avoid it, which has been a depressing and fatalistic thought.

Anxiety about hitting my head has played a major role in my life for eight years. I have had six concussions; four playing sport, two as a child growing up. I am also 26 and work at a Big Four 4 accountancy firm in London.

As I have my final accountancy exams approaching and a heavy 'work work' workload I have sought therapy to help increase the amount of time I have and reduce the amount of time thinking about my head.

I had my first session last week- the following helped:

First point was that thoughts determine feelings. If I think of myself as 'less than before' then I am only going to feel worse. So I try and avoid that thinking. It is a road to nowhere, which know from running up and down it.

Second point was that have to believe I can end this cycle of thinking and behaviour. If I believe then have a better chance.

This is the second set of therapy I have had. The first set followed a concussion whilst skiing. I managed on and off in between and always thought 'I will be ok as long as it does not happen again.'

The most useful parts of the first therapy sessions was the thought that:

Either you have done some damage to your brain and you need to accept it or you haven't damaged your brain and the problem is psychological, in which case you need to work on that psychological problem.

I was also encouraged to diarise and focus on good posture to improve confidence. Both helped/ help.

So- have found there is no magic bullet for this problem, but a combination of the right thought and actions can make you less conscious of it. If you are less conscious of it, you will be safer.

Aside from that, at work I find that single tasking is really helpful when doing my own work, though clearly teaching is a different role.

That all said, hit my head today, which is partly why I am here! Not completely though- hopefully the above is of some help.

'Fear sometimes makes the wolf seem bigger than it is.'

Hi,

Thanks so much for replying. I'm sorry all of that has happened to you and that you hit your head again, that's rough. However, I do have to say that I am so glad to have found someone who understands what I'm going through. Your post was comforting to me because it makes me feel as though I'm not the only person this has ever happened to. Your therapy experiences sound promising and I'm glad you've found some coping strategies. Therapy is probably something I should seek out at some point. I've also got an appointment with an ophthalmologist next month to test my peripheral vision because I wonder if maybe that might have something to do with all of this.

Do you ever feel angry about it? Every time I hit my head now, I immediately become very angry. Disappointed in myself in a way because I allowed it to happen again. I try not to feel that way since I know it's an accident but I can't always help it.

Do you have PCS? I'm wondering if/worried that my doctor may tell me that I have it now. It's been 3 or 4 weeks since my last official concussion and I'm still having symptoms. I guess I'll find out in a couple of days.

Have you shared your situation with your family, friends and co-workers? If so, how have they reacted to it?

Thanks again for your response. Good luck with your exams!

I went to see my primary care doctor today and he referred me to a neurologist as I hoped he would. He said he thinks its time for another MRI to check out what's going on in my brain which I was also happy about. I can't have any more CT scans since I've apparently had too many over too short of a time span.

When my doctor checked my reflexes he noticed that they were asymmetrical. The reflexes on my right side are much stronger than on my left. I don't know what that means but it seems kinda scary so I'm hoping that the neurologist can shed some light on why that's happening.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Hey,

I used to become angry and think that I was cursed in some way; it was my fate to hit my head.

Now, it is more just a loss of confidence. I do not feel able to do time pressured or difficult tasks; or feel less able to do them as well.

I tend to need time to recover, which is usually time, which is quite self destructive. So instead of going to the gym, I would order a takeaway. Then recover at some point the following day- normally be being focused on something else. Even study can ok in that respect! Sometimes!

The therapy has been useful. The focus of it at the moment is writing down what my thought patterns are so that they can then be challenged.

There was also the point, that being very careful makes no difference as to whether I hit my head or not, so why bother. Potentially sound, but potentially danagerous advice. Not sure.

I don't think I have PCS. My last concussion was in Jan 08' and maybe had it then, in the difficult months after it, when I was worried about what had changed in me and what I could do in the future.

I have shared my experiences with my family and close friends, who have been very supportive. I told my previous employer when I had a concussion, to set their expectations about what I could do. They were understanding, which helped.

Fortunate in that have quite a strong support network, though their help has not cured the issue; they cannot change what has physically happened. They do provide reassurance and are a rational sounding board when read too much into a simple bump on the end. Therapy has helped though. Quite like it being independent of family and friends; it spreads the burden from them.

I think the descision to tell your employer is very personal and difficult one. Traditionally disclosing health issues, which border on mental health, was seen, as far as I've been told, as damaging to a career, as it might follow you around. Though attitudes change; would do what is pragmatic and tell your employer if you think it would help. From their perspective, they can't help if you don't tell them.

Aside from that issue, yes think if you do have access to it, then seek help early. There is a lot of good help out there and nothing to lose if the status quo is really upsetting, which it is, if and when focus on an injury.

Hope it all improves for you soon! You're definitely not alone.

where do you get a diagnosis of concussion? my partner fell down a flight of stairs, cracked his facial sinus bone, and required 18 stitches in his forehead, and still didn't get a diagnosis on his charts of concussion? We now figure this has been min. his 8th - and yet nothing in medical records history to show for it. Apparently its not unique, and very frustrating, you can have multiple hits to the head, and have cumulative damages, to the point where suddenly you have new behaviours, cognitive losses, pain, depression, anxiety, all of the above, and not have known anything about it. Be VERY careful, it seems like a bad joke, but putting on a helmet for everyday life, is now seemingly a good concept. you are not alone, but medically you might not get the help you need. listen to your own body, stay in the dark if you need to, sleep, repair the damages yourself. Good luck.

I'd suggest having your partner see his doctor and talk about what has happened over the years. Maybe he/she will suggest having and MRI done to see what's going on inside his brain. If the doctor doesn't suggest it, I would request it. Same thing if he ever ends up in the ER again with a head injury. I'd ask for a CT Scan or an MRI and be sure to mention his past injuries. Maybe that could be the first step in the direction of some answers.

I'm sorry you and your partner are dealing with all of that. Hopefully this is helpful to you.

This is ridiculous and its making me insane. I hit my head AGAIN today. Since my last official concussion diagnosis last month, I've been hitting my head weekly. I don't understand why this is happening. I'm trying my hardest to be so careful and it isn't working. I don't know what to do anymore. My head is throbbing.

I just started working out for the first time to see if it might be helpful for my symptoms. I've been taking it slow and just bike riding for about a half hour. Unfortunately every time I've done this so far I've gotten a nasty headache during and after. I drink water before, during and after so I know I'm not dehydrated.

Has anyone else had this issue? Am I pushing myself too much too soon? I'm not sure what to do anymore. My neurologist appointment can't come soon enough.