For a Loved One With TBI, Proper Care and Support is Everything

Injuries are a natural part of life. Most people experience things like broken bones, sprained joints, cuts, and scrapes throughout their lives. But some injuries have more of a lasting impact than others. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) certainly fall into this category.

What is a TBI?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TBI’s cause 5 million emergency room visits annually, as well as 282,000 hospitalizations and 56,000 deaths. TBI is a contributing factor in nearly one-third of all injury-related deaths and accounts for $76.5 billion in direct medical costs per year.

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., a Chicago-based law firm that specializes in assisting brain injury victims, the most common causes of TBI include motor vehicle accidents, slips-and-falls, workplace accidents, medical negligence, and sports and recreation injuries.

Things You Definitely Shouldn’t Do

If a spouse, child, parent, or other loved one experiences a TBI, it’s important that you understand how to respond. For starters, this means not doing the following:

• Act like everything is fine. The effects of a TBI aren’t always evident to others. Some of the most common symptoms are invisible – such as memory and concentration issues, fatigue, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain. Telling your loved one that they seem fine is both disrespectful and hurtful.
• Make them feel guilty. It’s easy to make a TBI victim feel guilty – either intentionally or unintentionally. This usually happens as a result of how you say things and/or react to requests. Make it a point to never direct blame their way.
• Let them stay isolated. While there’s something to be said for giving a TBI victim time to rest and recuperate, don’t let them stay isolated for days or weeks on end. They need to get out and experience things – even when there’s some pushback.

A Few Practical Ways You Can Help

In addition to avoiding the aforementioned mistakes, make a point of doing the following:

• Explain yourself. TBI victims are often confused and/or find it difficult to focus and understand what’s happening around them. And even though they may play it off like everything is fine, they’re struggling to keep up. Keeping this in mind, explain yourself over and over again. Introduce yourself when you arrive and announce it when you leave. Describe what you’re doing before you actually do it. Speak slowly and give time for a response. Be generous with praise and provide feedback when your loved one does something well. The more vocal you are in the small areas, the more helpful you’ll be to your loved one.
• Perform practical tasks. “We may not actually know ‘what’ we need. Or we may feel embarrassed and don’t want to be a burden or seem needy. Don’t ask us if we’d like you to come over. We’ll likely say no, but really mean yes. Just show up at our door with open arms,” TBI survivor Amy Zellmer writes. And when you do show up, try to perform as many practical tasks as you can. This may look like washing dirty laundry, unloading the dishwasher, taking out the trash, and cleaning up messes.
• Provide a sense of normalcy. “Traumatic brain injuries change almost everything in a person’s life,” SpinalCord.com explains. “Your loved one has found themselves in an unfamiliar situation and likely feels out of place, uncomfortable, fatigued, and uncertain about how to act or react.” Do everything you can to provide some sense of routine and normalcy. It’ll help in their recovery.
• Practice patience. As you care for your loved one, your patience will be severely tested. They may ask you the same question over and over again, or repeatedly make certain requests. Take deep breaths and remember what they’re going through. There’s no such thing as being too patient in these situations.

Understand Your Limitations

As difficult as it can be, it’s imperative that you understand the limitations you face and realize that you can’t do it all. A TBI can be a serious and lifelong issue. The only thing you can do is be there for support. Trying to do too much will only complicate the underlying problems and frustrate your loved one. Encourage them to seek out the proper medical care and stick to the elements that you can control.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes