A traumatic brain injury (TBI) doesn’t define you, but many people find that it changes their entire life. Depending on the severity, a TBI from a fall, accident, workplace accident, or something else can result in a variety of physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms that change how you live your life.
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
Finding happiness and meaning is one of the many challenges that TBI sufferers face as they start to get their lives back on track. However, achieving fulfillment post-TBI is entirely achievable with these actionable strategies:
Seek Support
You don’t have to navigate your traumatic brain injury by yourself. Help is available, whether you’re looking for legal support to hold the person responsible to account, mental support from professionals when you’re struggling with the change, or emotional support from friends and family during those more challenging periods.
Being diagnosed with a TBI also means working with a team of healthcare professionals to help manage your symptoms. You are not alone as you start this next chapter of your life.
Redefine Your Purpose
There are many abrupt life changes after a TBI, like changes to your body, personality, memory, and social relationships. You may even experience occupational and financial changes if you’re unable to work due to your injury. It’s changes like these that may mean you’re struggling to find your purpose in life.
Living with happiness and meaning post-TBI can require you to redefine your purpose when everything in your life has changed. This can look like finding significance through hobbies, volunteering, or breaking your long-term goals into smaller, more manageable steps.
Have Self-Compassion
One of the most frustrating parts of experiencing a TBI for many people is trying to do something they did before their injury and not being able to. They can be hard on themselves, angry, and self-critical.
Self-criticism can start to eat you up, so turn it into self-compassion. Adjust your expectations and celebrate the small victories. Acknowledge that your healing requires patience and persistence, not criticism and impatience.
Use Positive Psychology
It’s hard to be positive when you don’t feel like yourself. However, positive psychology is a popular approach for brain injury survivors to improve mood and self-concept. It involves shifting the focus of brain injury recovery from ‘fixing what’s wrong’ to ‘building what’s strong’, Key applications of positive psychology include:
- Writing down three positive events every day to build self-esteem, focus on the present, and reformulate your outlook.
- Rather than dwelling on deficits, identify and leverage core character traits to improve overall well-being.
- Cultivating mindfulness and self-kindness to address anxiety, depression, self-criticism, and rumination.
Maintain a Structured Routine
Sometimes, even the most structured tasks can become overwhelming after a TBI. To rebuild stability in everyday life and ease your cognitive load, maintain a structured routine. This can involve breaking down complex information and daily tasks into chunks. You can also use visual reminders, such as calendar apps, pillboxes, and trinkets that reflect specific tasks or actions.
It can take time to find meaning and happiness after being diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury. However, through specific actions such as practicing positive psychology, seeking professional support, and maintaining a structured routine, you may find what you seek sooner than you thought.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Our Editorial Team are writers and experts in their field. Their views and opinions may not always be the views of Wellbeing Magazine. If you are under the direction of medical supervision please speak to your doctor or therapist before following the advice and recommendations in these articles.
