One thing I have been struggling with lately is fatigue. I had some kind of chest infection early January and this has dragged out. The symptoms have gone but the fatigue still remains. This doesn't help with my thinking because I find I worry that it's not actually post illness fatigue, I worry that somehow my concussion got worse and I'm getting worse. These thoughts are kind of fleeting, but they are annoying. No fatigue existed before I was ill, it was not a symptom of my injury.

I have a work shop I set up (part of what I was doing last summer in the garden) I set it up to start doing my sculptures and artwork again, like I used to. Do you think these activities will strain my condition? Doing art does involve concentration.

I think your art will be fantastic. Your thinking will be at your speed, not like the pressured thinking needed for chess or a video game. When you can control the thinking pace, you can avoid the over-stressed thinking. It is a skill that once developed, will serve you well.

If you find yourself caught in a mental block, take a break. Do something with an entirely different thought process. You can return to the task later. It may help to write a note about the idea/place in your work where you froze. Don't commit it to memory. That will mean you carry the thinking stress with you.

When I was early in my recovery, I hand built a cabin, 2 stories, 2 sets of stairs, framed, cedar sided, geothermal air conditioning, plumbed, wired, sheet rocked, cabinets, painted. I hired a team to hang the ceiling sheetrock and the roof trusses and roof due to safety issues and pour the concrete ( I don't do well on ladders) and lay the carpet. I did it at my pace. It was very therapeutic. It took 6 months of 3 days a week. I would get brain freeze up from time to time and would just take my time getting my mental bearings again.

I'm hoping to do a similar project building a shop and classroom to teach industrial arts to home schooled students.

These self-paced projects have always been very good for me.

I know people who have had to recover from lung infections/illness. It takes a month or two to get back to normal. Did your doc give you breathing exercises ? It is a common therapy. Give yourself time to heal.

I find art to be very therapeutic and relaxing. I quit though As soon as it starts becoming difficult or I start getting a headache. I think as long as you monitor yourself it should be ok. I think. When you feel you need a rest, quit and rest. I'm no expert, but that is what I'm told.


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I spent most of last summer doing a workshop for myself and also a play house on the other side of the garden for the kids. My work shop is fully insulated with inner and outer walls filled with rock wool (it gets pretty cold here in winter) double glazing on the windows, solar powered outside lighting, full electricity with lighting and power outlets inside, insulated flooring and fully painted inside and out with an acylic based all whether paint. It's pretty cosy. :-)

Doozer,

If you think about it, a project like that with many steps that get completed along the way, is very therapeutic.

That is what I would call a macro job. It uses macro thinking chunks, vs a micro job where one needs to make intense and precise fine decisions.

Even when there are needs for precise decisions, they are usually single step decisions vs complex multi-step decisions with multiple variables to juggle. This ability to do what would appear to be a complex job by breaking it down into much simpler decisions and tasks is much better for the struggling brain.

When I get in a situation where I have that complex task or decision to make, I try to step back and break it down as much as possible. My brain handles it much better. Even writing down a matrix of the variables can be a big help. It prevents the need to do mental juggling.

All three of you together have made so many good points I cannot get them all quoted . . I laughed when Doozer mentioned the millionaires. Right on . .

But one thing I'm trying to do is figure stuff out. Comparing experiences is a big part of that. I took a little neurology in college; now I'm trying to pilfer recent textbook material (I can't really afford to buy too much). That's one constructive project and I hope to propose theories in due time . .

Sounds fantastic to me.

I build plastic model planes and that helped me immensely when I was able to return to them. I was necessary for me to take breaks from them but it actually became a benefit....I found I put more thought into what I was doing because I had to stop.

An actual PCS benefit so to speak.

Bud

I'll start slow, maybe build myself some armatures and go from there. I really used to get a buzz when my work was going well, I'm fairly sure that will be good for my continued recovery.