• copyright Robert S. Vibert 2019

A year ago I was subjected to a sudden and violent brain injury when my car was crashed into from the rear on a highway. As a result of the car rolling over several times, I sustained a concussion and am still in the process of healing. This post will cover some of the things I have learned over the course of the past year, with a focus on the contexts which are helpful for healing a brain injury. Other posts will focus on specific foods, substances and approaches.

What one needs to heal

A brain injury is often invisible but can affect us in many ways. There are a lot of articles to read about this and research is ongoing but unfortunately most people (including many doctors) have no idea about how serious these injuries can be or what needs to be done.

The context or environment we live in can have a substantial affect on a healing journey – it can make healing possible or it can hinder it or even make things worse.

Some things which make it easier to heal include:

• peace and quiet
• supportive people
• therapeutic ambience

Peace and quiet

An injured brain has a finite amount of energy which must be allocated to the various activities engaged in on a daily basis – storing memories, recalling memories, understanding new data, repairing or replacing damaged areas, etc.

Every stimulus the brain is exposed to will require some level of engagement from it and use up some of those finite resources. Spending time in a quiet, peaceful, low stimulus environment will enable the brain to devote more resources to healing.

Spending time in a noisy environment, or one with sudden movements will have the opposite effect, draining valuable healing resources to deal with the stimuli.

One of the best ways to reduce symptoms of brain injury is to spend time in a dark, quiet restful place. Lying or sitting still, gently breathing and relaxing as much as possible can greatly reduce sensory overload and associated symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.

Other environmental pollutants to avoid include WIFI signals as well as other EMF (ElectroMagnetic Fields) signals and polluted air (often from car traffic, industrial emissions, and spewed from airplanes). Just spending time away from cities in quiet woodlands can be beneficial.

Supportive people

Just like with the environment, the stimuli we are exposed to from people can aid or impair a healing process.

Supportive people can contribute to a successful healing process via their actions and attitudes. They will try to understand the situation and make the life of the injured person easier. They help reduce the stress load on the person healing by taking over some daily activities thereby freeing up brain resources for healing. When someone only has 100 units of brain resource available each day, not having to spend units on things like figuring out what to cook or handle an administrative task means they could heal faster and have more enjoyable days.

Supportive people will also work to ensure that the healing happens in an environment conducive to this process. They will intercept distractions and proactively deal with issues which might impact the injured person. They will speak calmly and gently, and ensure that their message is understood, even if that means they need to repeat themselves.

Supportive people will also recognize that when a person has a brain injury they might not behave in the same way as someone who is healthy. They might be easily confused or get frustrated and this is not intentional but a result of the injury. Forgetfulness is another common symptom of brain injury, as is not being able to figure out some things quickly. They will be patient with the injured person and invest time and energy in understanding and accepting the new reality.

Non-supportive people will engage in activities which stall the healing process or in some cases even cause more problems. For example, engaging in an argument with an injured person will not only divert limited brain resources to deal with the situation, but might also induce extra stress on the injured and trigger a headache. Then the injured person needs to deal with the headache in addition to the argument.

Other ways that people can be non-supportive include

• making demands on the injured to perform tasks or activities as this induces stress
• lecturing the injured on how they should behave or be
• being inconsiderate of the brain processing challenges faced by the injured
• criticizing the actions and ideas of the injured
• expecting the injured to contribute in the same manner as a healthy person.

All of these actions and attitudes produce stress on the injured and show or hinder the healing process.

Therapeutic ambience

To heal from a brain injury it is often helpful to have exposure to healing and therapeutic stimuli. For example, the music of Mozart and Bach are considered to be helpful for the brain as it reorganizes damaged neural circuits.

Gentle touch and caresses from another person can be soothing and reduce the frustration experienced with the lowered cognitive ability.

Encouraging words of support backed with actions and attitudes can ease the life of the injured.

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This is a work in progress and will be enhanced as new data is encountered. Please feel free to contribute to the development of this resource – emails with suggestions for improvement or additional input can be sent to me via the contact form.