Because of my concussions in 2014 and following PCS I started therapy a few weeks ago. I was and I still am constantly concerned about my head. Every wrong move, every wrong step let's my anxiety go through the roof.

I get bad symptoms like having a new concussion.

Now my therapist told me yesterday that axiety can not cause any symptoms.

So that confused me. What causes my symptoms if it's not anxiety related?

In times where nothing specific happens to my head I feel pretty good most of the time.

So is it correct what she says?

The anxiety does not 'cause' the symptoms. Your memory of symptoms does. This is more of a PTSD like flashback. You feel the concussion symptoms even though you have no physiological cause for them to manifest.

You need a better therapist who can teach you to redirect those responses to head touches and even thoughts of head touches.

It would be called desensitization therapy or exposure therapy or some such.

A good therapist will help you learn to believe these touches are not traumas.

A phobia therapist may help, fear of heights, claustrophobia, and other fears are similar to your fear of head touches.

This will all start with you believing these touches are not injuries even though you sense symptoms.

A protocol could start with you touching and even patting your head and focusing on relaxing as you do it. Then, you let somebody else touch then pat your head as you focus on remaining relaxed. Then, they touch or pat your head when you do not expect it and you focus on recognizing the touch or pat and returning to a relaxed state. This will need to be repeated many times, hundreds maybe.

I hope you can find a therapist who can help you. You might even mention this protocol. The therapist's goal is to help you learn to relax through each touch and pat.

btw, I bet that when you are distracted by other things, your tolerance for touches and pats is better. The distraction helps you ignore the contact.

My best to you.

Have we ever heard of someone trying hypnotism to help?

I started to mention hypnotherapy but deleted my comment. I did not want anybody wasting time looking for something that likely does not exist. I can't imagine the challenge in finding a hypnotherapist who understand the issues with concussion and impact worries.

A phobia or exposure trained therapist would likely have a broader approach.

I think tackling anxiety through therapy is a good idea. Anxiety is a common theme with PCS and it exacerbates symptoms. It's been proved that meditation can physically affect the brain so practicing relaxation and mindfulness will be beneficial over time. I was left with what I'd term residual anxiety which I'm dealing with this way. The mind is much more powerful than doctors give it credit for. BTW I went decaff and try as much as possible to cut out sugar which helped too. We live in a highly strung modern society which doesn't help.