[swingwing]

Hi, I know how dangerous alcohol and drugs are in theory after TBI, but does anyone have direct experience? My brother suffered a fairly serious TBI nine months ago, with bi-frontal bleeding and a subdural hematoma. He is on SSDI and trying to live alone this past month. We just found out he started drinking again, and appears to be intending to use some unregulated drugs he used before his TBI, including kratom and salvia divinorum.

I remember hearing that alcohol and TBI can induce seizures, and that in general a damaged brain is more susceptible to alcohol's toxic effects. I can only imagine what effects these other drugs will have alone, or mixed with alcohol. We know it was alcohol that more or less led to his TBI in the first place, yet he seems to not have learned his lesson.

I have a friend whose brother died four years after his very serious TBI due to drinking, and I know the substance abuse rates are higher in general among the TBI population.

We are trying to figure out how to help my brother stop before he hurts himself or others. He won't listen to individuals and is in denial. We thought maybe a family/friend intervention might help. The problem is, his frontal lobe TBI seems to have made him that much more inflexible and of poor judgement.