Hey all,
Most of you probably know this but saw a psychiatrist for the first time the other day, and he said that anxiety makes people take something like a worsening headache and turn that into "i'll never recover," which we believe. It's funny how him telling me that catastrophizing is a "thing" that people in my situation do i think may help me believe my thoughts just a little less.

He also said that the area of our brain that produces anxiety (particularly during a panic attack) is evolutionarily programmed to make sure we BELIEVE that it will never end so that we'll fight/flight ourselves to safety.

I also extended some kindness to myself by telling myself my brain started producing anxiety about doing stuff b/c i was overdoing it and getting setbacks. It was a protection mechanism. Now i need to start dipping my toe in the water of life, but not diving in.

good luck!

Thanks so much for this post.

I'm always telling fellow TBI folks that anxiety is a SYMPTOM of your TBI.

Yes, you should do things to try and ward off anxiety/panic attacks (avoid triggers, don't overdo, etc...), but if (when, really) it happens, don't beat yourself up over it.

Heck, you don't feel guilty when your battered brain makes your eye twitch or your hand shake, so why feel badly about the anxiety?

This nonsense is born of the ridiculous distinction some people insist on making between the psychical and the "mental." Hmmm... Whether it's my stutter or my depression, they are BOTH products of one thing: the badly damaged ORGAN that is my brain.

Berating brain injury patients over their anxiety and depression is downright cruel. Misplaced guilt never helped anyone overcome anything. As a group, we are already way too hard on ourselves.

Why not stick your toe in, too, markneil? The water is fine and there is plenty of room in the pool.

my pain goes down SO much when I don't have anxiety..the whole 2 minutes a day lol. especially since I have post stroke pain, which REALLY is affected by any surge in emotional levels, good or bad, but mostly bad. I will try but 46 years of hard wiring is HARD to change,