After successful surgical procedures and days of careful observation, your injured family member may be transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation facility, where he or she will receive various therapies to help them deal with what is sure to be a very lengthy recovery. This is an ideal time for you to acquaint yourself with traumatic brain injuries and what that Survivor might be facing in the near future. This phase of the recovery process isn’t easy or fast. The difficulty of healing process transcends race, gender and age for anyone facing the recovery from a traumatic brain injury. Only through determination, consistency and constant encouragement, can you get your loved one to overcome of their injuries and move forward with life. Here are some things to keep in mind in



​Recovery from a Traumatic Brain Injury is very complicated


Imagine you have a jar full of jellybeans of all sorts of colors and flavors. Hold that jar in your hands and drop it on the ground and watch as the glass shatters and the jellybeans scatter and roll all over the ground.
Now your job is to take each shard of glass—piece by piece (no matter the size) and glue them back together into the shape of the original Jar. The jar will never look perfect on the outside, with seams and glue marks on the glass.
The next phase of that job is to gather every single jelly bean that sprung forth from the jar when it shattered and place each one individually back in the jar in the exact order they were in before you dropped the jar.

























 

 

As you can imagine, a process like that seems incredibly complicated and daunting. It would take you months or even years to get it right. Imagine how it must seem from a traumatic brain injury survivor’s perspective. The healing physical, mental and psychological process is slow and should be met from all ends with patience and fortitude.

Be prepared to deal with emotional and physical issues​

 

 

 

Being discharged from the hospital or a rehab facility is only the first step toward full recovery from a traumatic brain injury. As a caretaker, you will be confronted with a wide range of emotions from your loved one. You will be confronted with frustration, anxiety and misdirected anger. These emotions are natural and should be met with patience, compassion and understanding.  It takes time for the survivor to adjust to their new situation and this is where the survivor’s emotions will begin to surface after what probably was a long and unexpected stay in a hospital or rehab facility.

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Give the survivor some space

 

 

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After an extended stay in the hospital, the survivor has probably begun to tire of swarms of people hovering around him or her. Even as a concerned family member, you should avoid crowding your survivor with overly concerned attention after their return. It could result in feelings of insecurity about the outlook of his or her condition. This is crucial in a traumatic brain injury survivor who is struggling to regain a sense of self and readjust to life outside a medical facility with their condition. Some of the family survivor’s morose countenance is most likely due to an enormous sense of loss much like the death of someone close. As with everyone, your injured family member needs the proper time to work through grief. When the survivor is engaged in a reasonably benign solo activity, give him or her a safe degree of space and allow them to assess their strengths and weaknesses on their own. Remember; you will not be able to be with your survivor all the time. The secret to getting over this anxiety for your family member is getting to know them as they get to know themselves in this new phase of their life.
  
How to Deal Volatile with family issues​



























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The events surrounding your loved one’s injury has most likely strained emotions throughout the entire family. Like in any family situation, lives are different and personalities clash.  These existing issues can be stressful for the survivor of a traumatic brain injury, who may feel trapped in the midst of a tumultuous family situation. Something that is counter-productive to the healing process. Stress like this can cause lack of sleep, anxiety or a number of physical manifestations triggered by the brain struggling to deal with stress while in the midst of a delicate healing process. In dealing with these stressful situations, you should bring in an impartial third party friend or relative or seek the help of a family counselor who specializes in coping with family tragedy.

Be sensitive and encourage self-esteem despite physical changes

 

 

 

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During the recovery process, the survivor will be faced with watching his or her own body changing before their very eyes and beyond their control. These changes may be scarring and swelling from the necessary surgeries, weight gain or loss as a side effect from the many medications that will be prescribed to them as well as the lack of independent physical activity, or scars or burns from the accident itself. It is no doubt troubling to watch some of these things happen to someone you know and love, let alone watching it happen to yourself. These changes can be traumatic for the survivor, making him or her feel self-conscious about their appearance, causing anger and withdrawal. In order to remedy the   negative outlook the survivor might have on him or herself, avoid gawking at them, pointing out the flaws caused by their condition incessantly, and making insensitive remarks (humorous or not) about their physical changes. Although you may have been once so intimately involved with the survivor before the incident that lead to their injury, you should keep in-mind that you are speaking to someone who has been through a life-altering experience. Speak to them in the same way that you would like to be treated if the situation was reversed. Don’t immediately dismiss that point of view. To the person who has suffered something of this magnitude, there is nothing cute or funny about their injury or appearance. The last thing you want to do to your loved one is cause any psychological harm that may result in angst or resentment. Instead encourage the survivor to see themselves beyond their wounds, scars and physical changes and help them to realize who they are by treating them more like a loved one and less like a condition.
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Encourage independence
Having spent a lot of time in a rehabilitation facility or a hospital, it may have been drilled into the subconscious of the survivor to rely on others for simple day-to-day things—things that are well within the abilities of the survivor. It is your job as the caretaker to get your loved one functional and back as close as they were before their incident that led them to their injury as possible. Patiently enforce improving memory by making him or her perform a set number of day-to-day tasks on a consistent basis. Teach them how to do things like correctly dress themselves properly. Exercises like these build confidence, self-awareness and brings the injured family member to functioning   more like they were before they were injured.
  
Communicate clearly
Please note that not every person in the world thinks and reasons the same. How people do those things depend on the habits branded into their memories and personalities. For the survivor of a traumatic brain injury their ways and means of communicating probably have not been completely destroyed. They are instead struggling with the way other people communicate.  For instance: using inferences in general conversation may be missed by the survivor, or anyone for that matter. Try to remember to speak specifically and not in pronouns when referring to something. (For instance: Don’t point and say something, like “look at that” when here are three other “that’s” where you are pointing toward.) This is especially vital when   you are speaking of something of importance. Also be aware of the visual impairments resulting from your loved one’s brain injury in cases like this. Remember: many of the lapses in communication like this will occur between parties where there is no brain injury involved. It happens to people all the time. Making communication clear will remove frustration and increase learning in every experience with the survivor. 
Don’t dwell on the past
No good can come from dwelling in the past. Speaking incessantly about the circumstances surrounding the survivor’s traumatic brain injury can be disturbing, especially for one desperate to move on.  Hearing about it constantly can cause anxiety, resentment and a whole host of negative emotions. You don’t want to encourage the survivor to define themselves by their disability. Doing that prevents the person progressing goal toward independence, health and overall wellness.

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Encourage social interaction


Having a traumatic brain injury places an individual in a lonely place. For many, it is difficult for them to watch everyone around them live life while being trapped in what seems like the prison of their injuries. You do not want your loved one to become isolated. Isolation in certain circumstances can be the cause of frustration, depression and suicidal thoughts and tendencies.  Watch out for the beginnings of these signs in your loved one and encourage him or her to be around friends-–ones who will offer the emotional support necessary to help the survivor begin the emotional healing process. It is important to let the survivor decide for themselves who they would like to spend time with. This is a great way to improve speech, reasoning and social skills that will benefit them well beyond when they have reached the fullness of their recovery.