While all these things would have been helpful, it’s also important to realize that these things can be very overwhelming, daunting, and hard to process for someone with a brain injury. So, these things would be better explained over a period of time, having check-ins to ensure they have been grasped.
What challenges did you experience when it came to your health and quality of life?
Sydney Marconi:
My life was definitely set on a different trajectory following my brain injury. I began having issues surrounding concentration, anger, aggression, impulse control, memory, low self-esteem, self-worth and efficacy, cognitive fatigue, depression, anxiety, overstimulation, indecisiveness, brain zaps/sharp pains, overwhelm, aphasia, sleep issues, etc. Since this time, I still have many persisting issues that make it difficult for me to maintain steady employment, relationships, and complete general day-to-day activities (ex: self-care, getting groceries, keeping up with housework, etc.)
What challenges did you experience when it came to getting treatment?
Sydney Marconi:
When I first began working with health care professionals, they would always ask me, “what brings you in today?” These kinds of open-ended questions caused me so much anxiety and I never knew how to respond (didn’t they know why I was there?). I would end up responding with “I don’t know” because I didn’t really know what services the professional was offering. This made me feel incompetent and they would often write this in their report as a symptom of my brain injury. I felt judged and misunderstood.
