I have been dealing with Post Concussive Syndrome and active concussions for the past 7 months. Only ever having one other concussion in my life, I have had four in quick succession since the initial one in January, from various things.
Today while I was driving, going maybe between 50-60mph, someone stopped abruptly in front of me and I had to slam on my brakes really hard and then let up quickly, it was an extremely abrupt stop. I was gripping the steering wheel tightly and didn’t hit my head on anything, but have been feeling extreme concussion symptoms since it happened. I can’t tell if it’s paranoia/PTSD/anxiety that’s causing these symptoms or if it’s possible I actually gave myself another concussion today. Does anyone have any input? I’m incredibly anxious about it. Thank you.

Unless you strike your head against a solid surface as the car stops or the car hits a solid object at high speed, one cannot experience more than 2 Gs stopping a car. The brakes and tires will not cause more than 2 Gs.

Can somebody please answer a question?

Where are people getting the idea that fast stops in the car or bumping a wall or laying down hard onto a pillow or bed could be a concussion or cause damage?

Is there a Twitter feed or other social media that is spouting this nonsense?

Hi Mark,
I just had an experience like this right now and I’m terrified of another concussion. I hit the brakes hard and didn’t hit my head on anything but it kind of felt like my brain boggled in my head.
To answer your question, I personally get the idea of my brain going with the speed of my car and then stopping abruptly against my skull when I brake. I did not hit my head or move, just pictured my brain going with that speed and decelerating quickly into my skull. If that makes sense.
I am about 5 weeks out from a past concussion and really am afraid of a new one. I don’t know if this is silly or not but I am freaking out.
If anyone else has any input please share!

Please tell us about your 4 ? concussions.

Your imagining what your brain is doing is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You are expecting these movements to be a concussion so your mind tells you to replay past concussion symptoms in a flashback like presentation.

When you think of this, how are you imagining your skull stopping? Are you thinking it is stopping quickly like if it hit the windshield?

Your brain does not slosh around. It stops at the same rate as your skull. It has a consistent density so no parts want to continue moving when the others have stopped.

If there is any strain, it is too your neck. If you sense any movement, it is in your ears where the crystals are designed to move and signal that movement.

NOW, keep in mind that a car cannot generate more than2 Gs (actually 1.7) in a maximum braking action UNLESS you hit an object.

Your brain is in your head that moved a foot or more as you stop. The slow deceleration reduces the G force by at least 75% so 2 Gs is only 1.25 Gs.

When you walk down stairs, you body passes 2 Gs up your spine with every step.

YOUR BRAIN CAN EASILY TOLERATE 2 Gs.

A concussion requires 60 Gs. A subconcussive impact requires 20 Gs or so.

It take 10 sunconcussive impacts EACH day over months as in a football or soccer season to suffer from sunconcussive impacts.

The occasional jerk is nothing to the brain.

You need to get control of these thoughts. They will build to a severe OCD obsession that will put you in a miserable state, just from the anxiety.

btw. I have decided I only give this Concussion Anxiety Syndrome response ONCE. I am tired of ** who refuse to accept the simple facts of G forces and such.

We all have struggles and stresses in life. We need to move on.

I had this happen to me last week and still feel pretty awful this week.I think it scares me because I know a lot of people do get concussions without hitting their head and going 60mph to 0 slamming on the breaks makes me wonder how jarred up I got..

Another post I saw people that have gotten their concussions without hitting their heads in the car but I'm wondering if that's because they hit their car on something else or got hit??

My daughter got a concussion in a car wreck but did not hit her head. She was thrown hard into her shoulder seat belt. It was a violent stop. She cracked some ribs and her sternum.

Her Toyota pickup was totaled. The impact bent the frame. But, she never hit her head. She struggled with concussion symptoms for 3 months.

A car that stops suddenly in a collision can suffer a concussion. That stop will also trigger the air bags to go off.

A car that stops suddenly with braking will not caused enough deceleration to cause a concussion.

Those who make claims of a concussion without hitting their head in a car that has not hit something are confusing their symptoms. Emotional trauma can trigger many symptoms that mimic a concussion. Those symptoms may be real but they do not indicate brain damage.

Thanks, Mark. This clears up a lot of the questions that I had. It's crazy what our bodies can do and manifest with anxiety symptoms. It's truly scary.

Its PTSD, most people who've had PCS have PTSD so your reaction is quite normal considering how PCS has impacted your life. Stress and anxiety shut your brain down, try to alleviate that and you should improve. There are ways to take a load off like meditate and give yourself time to connect with the event. The good news is the event is over and its time to process it because your stuck on it. Give yourself a day to think about the event and be with it but after that let go of the moment.

I found this info on **

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which kinda freaked me out about sudden braking. As I said in the other thread, what confuses me is wondering how we can be sure that the G force applied from sudden breaking, is the same that is applied to the brain. Wouldn't it depend how much you're jolted and shaken as a result?

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I wish I could see the link so I could thoroughly debunk the idea of fast braking being a concern. The most a braking action can do is cause a 1.5 to 1.7 G deceleration. ABS brakes actually moderate braking force at a means of maintaining traction and steering control.

There is an idea in physics that says in layman's terms: Energy cannot be added to or removed from a process.

The energy on the outside, say the body against the seatbelt is no more or less than the energy inside the brain.

If the car decelerates at 1.5 Gs, the max deceleration the brain can experience is 1.5 Gs unless it impacts something that has decelerated more than the head, like a dashboard or windshield.

That means, if the car stops but you continue to move until you hit the dashboard or windshield with your head, you can experience more Gs with that impact.

I have a limited tolerance for "Yeah but......" claims or questions. The laws of physics regarding weight and motion (I got an A in that college class) do not change. If you are looking for a way to make a rational claim regarding an irrational anxiety, think seriously about your question.

I don't deny that people experience symptoms after these events. Those symptoms do not justify "I think I caused damage to my brain. Should I quit school or my job and wait to become a blubbering idiot?"

Reddit Redidiots make all sort of unsubstantiated claims. Other online forums do to.