TBI 101: Behavioral & Emotional Symptoms

To Danae, you are not bipolar. I survived a very violent and abusive childhood. My sister told me a psychiatrist helped her. Because I moved a lot, I was seen by different psychiatrists, here are the different diagnoses I’ve received: depression, bipolar, PTSD, PTSD with recurrent depressive episodes,generalized anxiety disorder...now I’m back to bipolar “because your sister had it”. I’ve also been placed on medication with life-long side effects. NONE of this prepared me for the severe, unanticipated emotional roller coaster I have now after my TBI. CT and MRI negative for bleeding, must be no injury. In fact, I had a grade 3 concussion (does not show up on CT or MRI). I was told I needed to see the psychiatrist about my “bipolar disorder. NOPE, increasing drugs made it worse. Bipolar is episodes off depression, and episodes of mania. NOPE, since my TBI, I’m not bipolar, I’m mega polar; depression, anxiety, paranoia, hope, no motivation, insomnia, disturbance in smell and taste, anger, those are just the emotional part of TBI. It can change at any moment. What is hardest to deal with is people telling me I look just fine, i’m Crying inside and being shamed on the outside.

My son is now 37 yrs of age but at the approximate age of 3-4 (as best remembered due to I, his mother, being a TBI survivor myself) at this very young age he fell at a baseball game from the stands and landed on the knob of an old door that was left on the ground just out in the open as I remember. He hit his bone (eye socket) right on edge of his eye. Fortunately, we were close to the local hospital. We brought him to the ER and they cleaned and stitched it up but I try thinking now if there are any signs of this accident that would imply he has TBI himself. He is well rounded but sometimes when he was a young boy and young teen, he had somewhat of a temper occasionally and he tends to now get a little agitated with certain ones of us sometimes. I am only wondering if there is any chance that he should or is it even possible that he be examined by a doctor to find out if there is any evident reason to believe he has TBI himself?

Thanks for any input and GOD BLESS.

I was struck by a pick-up truck when I was 16, and I'm 27 now. I was released from hospital that night with cuts requiring about 7 stitches total on my face, various scrapes all over my body and a severe limp. I was sore for weeks, but because I was released so soon and because I was underage and my parents would have been given signs to watch for as opposed to me, I have no idea what the results of observation were. I just know my late teens were full of anxiety, stress, emotional outbursts, and risk-taking behaviour. But my childhood involved a lot of outbursts and meltdowns, and I didn't recognize my stress as an anxiety disorder. I just assumed I was a normal teenager.

I told my new doctor this morning that I got hit by a truck as a teen, and this was the first time I mentioned it. My family doctor at the time of my accident wasn't one I was close to or visited often and I don't know if I ever brought it up. Anyway, after describing the accident and whatever memories I have of that day and the following months (I don't remember much) she informed me I likely suffered a concussion. This was the first time I'd ever heard that. She also said at this point it's impossible to know. I do suffer from anxiety and depression, but as this was formally diagnosed sometime between the ages of 20 - 22, I can't say how long I've suffered from it or if it's related.

I have horrible problems with my memory, I have trouble forming fully coherent sentences verbally, often forget key words to make a point and struggle to find synonyms, or lost track of my sentence altogether and then as I try to remember I lose track of the whole conversation; but my written communication is very strong.

I have a lot of trouble with daily tasks like cooking, grocery shopping, making important decisions or prioritizing tasks. An example is trying to come up with a grocery list, which I often forget to do altogether or forget the list at home if I do write one. Without the list, I forget what I wanted to make (or didn't think about this at all) and get overwhelmed trying to decide what to buy. For this reason I often overspend or buy take-out. When I cook, I have to make things that are simple and that I make frequently (a simple stir fry or frozen food that you throw in the oven), or I have to help a roommate or friend cook and follow their directions. With school, I'm fortunate that I can take on;y 2 courses and still be considered a full-time student because of my disability (GAD and MDD), but even this can cause a lot of stress as I struggle to prioritize my readings and essays and what needs to be done first. I get really anxious when I try to look for work because in the past this has been too much and caused me to fall behind.

In sum, I'm still dealing with some apparently severe consequences of delayed diagnoses and if I do have a brain injury and if that is what has either caused or aggravated my anxiety and depression, I may have been able to treat it much sooner. I'll probably never really know at this point.

I guess my point here is advice: follow up with as much medical support as you can access after even a minor head injury. You may uncover other issues you have, and be able to treat them.

My symptoms showed up right away but I blamed it on stress. I was assaulted in the back of the head with a thick wooden door. I show all the signs that you are describing but the doctors are telling me I have bipolar. I do not know what to think?