Mind Your Head Co-op

TBI and PTSD often occur together and, in my years of working with folks with brain injury, including vets, many people have no idea how they interplay or how to help untangle the wild mess of confusion and rage that can downward spiral terribly.

There is a way forward. Be kind to yourself, starting with forgiving yourself for what is, as yet, beyond your control.

There is a magnification factor with TBI and PTSD that can rapidly spiral down in nanoseconds in a hellacious feedback loop. One or the other can start the cascade. Thus, the more you understand brain overstimulation that leads to brain energy debt and then acting like a cornered, wounded animal under attack, that will help you learn to manage your “Brain bank” which, over time, will have smooth things out more and more. The PTSD is a flood of adrenaline and rage and confusion and nerves firing on overdrive, so instantly overloads the brain.

The key, to start, is to slowly work to get out of the adrenaline rush cycle. Work with your doctors and priest/minister (I'll explain this more below) to sort out the best way to do this, but you will most likely become the main expert on your situation and needs.

Drugs, nutrition, and anything else that effects brain chemistry may be an issue as well. Often, prescription drugs are ill advised, including psych drugs, because an injured brain experiences the side effects times 1000, and the cure is worse than what it may help.

Faith, in my experience, is key to healing PTSD. Interestingly, this shows in the book “Unbroken,” after his POW camps in Japan. PTSD is a lot of soul issues and questions, and while mental health is an aspect of this, it can't address the deep fundamental questions of who is God, who am I, why did this happen, why am I still here and they aren't, what purpose suffering, and more. Hence, working with a good priest or minister is key.