More often than not, persons affected by brain injury do not connect to services for a variety of reasons. Statistics show that most of those who do receive services initially…don’t receive the on-going assistance that is necessary to help them continue to adjust as their circumstances change.
To make matters worse, the survivor complicates the recovery process with delays due to their denial or because of their inability to logically reason or accurately assess. They do not recognize a need for therapy, even though they continue to make poor decisions. In a nut shell, a person with a brain injury commonly doesn’t know…that they don’t know.
Once a realization is established, after recognizing that nothing seems to be going well and they don’t know why or how to fix it, the emotional cycling of grief occurs (shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing, and finally acceptance). It’s a double whammy for the survivor to be overloaded with such over-powering emotions and at the same time, lose their ability to control those emotions. Angry outbursts and fits of rage harm relationships and cause further troubles.
Acknowledging the loss and accepting the new reality are major components of “getting better.” This is not an overnight process. It often takes up to two years for the survivor and loved ones to fully accept the life change and adjust. And even longer for the survivor to find “self”-acceptance.