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How can families help each other to cope with a loved one's Brain Injury?
The following considerations help family members to support each other through the emotional aftermath of the cataclysmic injury to a loved one:
- Traumatic brain injury is a trauma for all members of the family. Following a BI, the injured person goes through a period of recovery and adjustment that's quite difficult. Family members also undergo a process of recovery as they begin to accept and adapt to changes in their loved one. Sometimes the injured person and members of his or her family progress through this process at different rates. They may even struggle with different issues. Try to accept each others' reactions and validate the feelings behind them. If, for instance, one family member resists visiting the injured person in the hospital, give the child time to become comfortable.
- Although no one knows the extent of recovery, keep your hope alive. Refrain from defining the future by the present. Even partial recovery changes what resources the family member with the injury will need long-term. While a wheelchair might be a necessity today, for example, it may not be needed in six months. Only time will tell. Become acquainted with, and remind yourselves often, of the inspiring stories of others who have made great strides on the road back from brain injury.
- Children, especially, need help to both comprehend and cope with the situation. Literature can be a great resource. Honest and age-appropriate communication is imperative.
- Talk about your feelings and encourage your children to do the same. Sometimes artwork becomes an effective means of expression. Encourage your children to draw or write about how the injury makes them feel.
- Become involved in a support group. Invite children to your support group, or find groups designed especially for them.
- Friends usually feel desperate for ways to help. Don't hesitate to call on them for whatever assistance you need. In addition to asking them to provide respite for your children as you tend to the injured family member, switch off with them so you can enjoy an outing with the rest of the family.