For advertising information visit www.samplerpublications.com or call 859.225.4466 | September 2014
Traumatic
Brain
Injuries and
Caregivers
By Doris Settles
U.S. Representative Gabrielle
Gifford has made great strides since
a random supermarket shooter killed
six, injured twelve and left her with
a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). But
her recovery has taken her down a
new path, forging a new life rather
than completely recovering her old
one. “For the past year, we’ve had new
realities to live with,” said her husband, the astronaut Mark E. Kelly, at
the one year anniversary of the shooting. “The reality and pain of letting go
of the past.”
By definition, TBI is a traumatic
event, affecting not only the injured
person but everyone who loves them:
all are survivors. Researchers at the
National Institute of Health are just
beginning to understand that experiencing, witnessing, or learning of
a traumatic event can lead to Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder in both the
injured and those who care for them.
Dr. Silke Bernart, Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation at UK, explains,
“Often one of the greatest difficulty
involves helping caregivers come
to terms with a new “normalcy”
and assuring that the caretaker is
also taken supported and does not
become overwhelmed.”
Traditional therapists generally
hope to restore people and their relationships to their original luster following an illness. With TBI, “original”
is changed to “new”. For TBI survivors, recovery often means teaching
uninjured family members to forge
a different and positive relationship
with a profoundly changed person—
and helping injured to accept that
they are changed people. According
to Bernart, “The patient’s needs
are changing over the prolonged
course of brain injury recovery, and
this change poses an ongoing challenge for families as well as survivors
themselves.” At some point, both the
injured and those that love them must
realize that the “stranger in the living
room” is here to stay.
Therapy by a professional experienced with PTSD and TBI can raise
awareness about trauma and its aftereffects, build relaxation and anger
control skills, encourage better sleep,
diet and exercise lifestyle habits, and
create coping strategies for the guilt,
shame and other possible feelings
about the trauma.
The amount of time you spend
gathering information and preparing
to help your family member through
the maze of reintegration and possible lifelong support, the more positive results can be expected. These
tips from the Brain Injury Association
of America may help:
1. Learn about your family member’s deficits by close involvement
in the rehabilitation process. Have a
clear understanding about compensatory strategies you can implement in
your home to lessen the impact of
these deficits.
2. Have ready the room your family
member will be using upon arriving