[Boaty McBoatface]

This has been a question that has been nagging at me for awhile, but I never found the right place to ask. I it possible that a concussion could keep a personality disorder from forming? I know this is a weird question, so let me explain.

I won't recap my situation too much since I recently made a big long post. However, when I was 5, I was hit by a car causing a grade 3 concussion (I was unconscious for at least 15 minutes.) Ever since then, my family said I had a drastic personality change. I never paid too much attention to it, because how could you tell the personality of a 5 year old?

Before I go on, I have to thrown in the disclaimer everything past this point must be taken with a grain of salt as I am in no way a trained psychologist, neurologist, etc and I realize I cannot properly diagnose anyone.

With that out of the way, I am EXTREMELY different from the rest of my family, personality wise. My mom, dad and sisters are extremely extroverted, love meeting new people, and based on several conversations I've had with them, have never been introspective or meta-cognitive. I'm extremely introverted and shy, dislike meeting new people, and I'm buried inside my own head to a rather unhealthy degree. I could never understand why, when going to a restaurant, my family would make conversation with the hostess, the waiter, the family next to us, etc. They could never understand why, after school, I'd go straight to my room and not talk to anyone for a few hours.

Here's the tricky part. Multiple members of my immediate family going through three generations have displayed traits of someone suffering from a cluster B personality disorder. My grandma seemed to treat people, including her kids, as possessions and never let them make any decisions for themselves. To disagree with her on anything meant retribution, usually by not talking to them for years. At least one of my sisters seems to conform with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. She views any form of disagreement as traitorous and will go to war with people who she feels has wronged her in some way. She has surrounded herself only with people who compliment her constantly, and her kids know the best way to get something from her is to suck up to her. Most of my family members are also very paranoid. Any problem they encounter is interpreted as a personal attack. (If we go to a restaurant and another party gets seated before us, the host obviously did that to spite us.)

I could go on and on, but I'll just get to the point. Is it theoretically possible that a TBI severe enough to cause a personality change prevent these types of personality disorders* from forming? Are there any twin studies that show dramatic differences in personalities due to one having a TBI? The fact that I'm so different in personality than anyone else in my family has been a giant mystery to me for decades. I can't help but suspect that I'd be a lot more like them (for better or for worst) if I hadn't have been hit by a car.

*Again, they have not been diagnosed and I am not trained.

[Mark in Idaho]

I don't think there is an answer other than to say, your TBI shuffled the desk and your deal is different than theirs. Some of their traits are learned/environmental. Others may be more hard wired. Your reclusiveness is likely due to your injury and that has slowed your willingness/eagerness to engage others, especially in a narcissistically or other self-important way.

My three kids are entirely different than my wife and me and different than each other. We try to figure out where they got some of their negative traits and are stymied. But, their positive traits are enough to be proud of.

I think it is just called 'The human condition.'

Be glad you do not have the narcissist or paranoid trait. Those are harder to over come that the struggles you have are to live with in my experience.

[Boaty McBoatface]

Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

I don't think there is an answer other than to say, your TBI shuffled the desk and your deal is different than theirs. Some of their traits are learned/environmental. Others may be more hard wired. Your reclusiveness is likely due to your injury and that has slowed your willingness/eagerness to engage others, especially in a narcissistically or other self-important way.

My three kids are entirely different than my wife and me and different than each other. We try to figure out where they got some of their negative traits and are stymied. But, their positive traits are enough to be proud of.

I think it is just called 'The human condition.'

Be glad you do not have the narcissist or paranoid trait. Those are harder to over come that the struggles you have are to live with in my experience.

The interesting and scary part is I'll probably never never know if I do become (or am) paranoid or narcissist. I'm pretty sure I'm not, but if there's one thing our brains are good at, it's holding onto our personal narrative even in the face of overwhelming facts.

I've been obsessed with learning about behavior ever since I learned about the actor-observer bias as a freshman in college. It was the first thing I learned that really made everyone's (including myself) behavior make sense. Rightly or wrongly, I'm extremely proud of my ability to observe myself and not rationalize or make excuses for bad behavior*. Basically, unlike anyone else in my family, I almost never react on pure emotion and try to weigh the situation before reacting. Unfortunately, like the rest of my family, I'm very self-involved and love talking about myself, which makes me feel somewhat guilty when I write long posts like the ones in this forum.

Anyway, the point is I recognize several behaviors and traits in myself that could have lead toward a personality disorder. I'm dieing to know if it is at least hypothetically possible if trauma to certain areas of the brain could prevent one from occurring. The answer won't change anything, it's just an itch that needs to be scratched.

*Which, of course, could be ******** due to the bias blind spot. I do know I'm very prone to be affected by Dunning-Kruger, illusion of asymmetric insight, confirmation bias, etc.

[Mark in Idaho]

I think you have studied too much and have too many ideas that could be a diagnosis. The great overlap between normal behavior and abnormal behavior makes wrong self-diagnosis or even self-concern a risk. My attitude is, If it is not a problem, don't try to fix it. Research says that we can create a problem by focusing on the possibility of that problem.

For me, better to leave these things alone.

But, back to your question. If TBI can cause personality disorders, it would seem logical that it can change the manifestation of an existing disorder such that it does not reach critical mass.

[Bud]

Boaty,

My daughters are like me and your family, very outgoing and never met a stranger.

My son on the other hand holds his cards very close to him, rarely initiates conversation and usually answers questions in as few words as possible.

I wonder but have no explanation...never any head injuries for him.

Bud

[Boaty McBoatface]

Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

I think you have studied too much and have too many ideas that could be a diagnosis. The great overlap between normal behavior and abnormal behavior makes wrong self-diagnosis or even self-concern a risk. My attitude is, If it is not a problem, don't try to fix it. Research says that we can create a problem by focusing on the possibility of that problem.

For me, better to leave these things alone.

But, back to your question. If TBI can cause personality disorders, it would seem logical that it can change the manifestation of an existing disorder such that it does not reach critical mass.

I can't shut it off at this point. On one hand, I know there are dangers in self-analysis, but I'm too lost in my own head to stop. At the same time, I've developed tools to help me deal with situations based on how I know I've acted in the past. As a simple example, I know that if there is a package of Oreo cookies in the house, I'll eat half the bag in one sitting. So for the sake of my own health, I stopped keeping cookies in the house.

As for the original topic, I'll ask the neurologist about it and update the thread if anyone is interested.

[Boaty McBoatface]

Originally Posted by Bud

Boaty,

My daughters are like me and your family, very outgoing and never met a stranger.

My son on the other hand holds his cards very close to him, rarely initiates conversation and usually answers questions in as few words as possible.

I wonder but have no explanation...never any head injuries for him.

Bud

I guess it's a nature/nurture kind of thing. Unless my mom neglected to tell me about an identical twin, its unlikely to find out for sure. Well, at least unless an autopsy looks for damage, but at that point, I don't think I'll care.