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Brain Wreck

Why did this wife take a photograph of her husband in his hospital bed after he sustained a severe brain injury?

Life Out of Order: A Story of Sibling Loss and Living with TBI

Sally Laux has lost her three brothers — two to death, one to a severe TBI — and yet, as she walks on a landscape of new textures and colors, she somehow continues to find meaning in her life.

The Psychology of Clutter and Strategies to Help

Rosemary talks with Debbie Bowie, a professional organizer, about how minimizing clutter during and after a crisis — like a loved one's brain injury — can significantly decrease anxiety.

Paper Trail or Trial?

Before Hugh’s injury, I loved getting mail in my mailbox. Afterward, I dreaded adding another pile to the piles of mail that permanently resided on my desk, office floor, and living room table.

The Science and Art of Neuropathology

Neuropathology is like looking at the last frame of a movie. You can deduce a lot from that frame but what you can't deduce is the arc of the story that culminated in that final frame.

The Pathology of CTE Versus That of Other Neurodegenerative Diseases

So far, research shows that chronic traumatic encephalopathy does not occur in people who have not sustained repetitive hits to the head either in sports or in combat.

Research into Blast Injury and the Brain

Using animal models in the lab to study the mechanisms of blast-related brain injury, researchers like Dr. Lee Goldstein are feeling optimistic that their findings will lead to viable treatments.

How Are Football Brain Injuries and Blast Injuries the Same?

Researchers like Dr. Lee Goldstein are studying the effects of repetitive brain injury whether sustained over a season on the football field or in milliseconds from one combat blast.

The Bobblehead Effect of Repetitive Brain Trauma

Dr. Lee Goldstein explains how the axons, capillaries, and blood vessels in the brain are sheared when a "bobblehead" head on a rigid neck accelerates back and forth.

Decoding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Decoding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopthy

Dr. Lee Goldstein explains what exactly this bonafide brain disease is as well as the rogue protein, tau, and how trauma is associated.

Why Stories Matter

Cool It on the Acronyms! Making Your Military Skills Understandable on a Civilian Resume

Rosemary talks about giving her first caregiving talk at a brain injury conference and how friendships and opportunities burgeoned from there.

Bouncing Forward

What exactly is "resilience"? In her caregiving blog, Rosemary talks about this important ability as a way to "bounce forward" after brain injury.

One Way to Spell Hope: RESEARCH

Dr. Paul Aravich talks about the relationship between TBI, PTSD, and Alzheimer's and what is needed for the diagnoses and treatments of these conditions.

Is PTSD Another Form of Brain Injury?

Dr. Paul Aravich talks about PTSD and other serious mental disorders as types of brain injuries, which can come with an increased risk for dementia later in life.

"I Am Not a Vegetable, I Am a Person"

TBI can come with increased risks of other health problems like Alzheimer's, but what harm is there in choosing to live a healthy life rather than focusing on what could happen?

Know Your Health Numbers -- Beyond TBI

Whether with a TBI or not, people need to know their numbers and get the proper tests they need — blood pressure, cholesterol, mammography, etc.

Jails: The Most Costly, Least Effective Treatment for Brain Injury

Sadly, the biggest single institutional provider for "treatment" for people with substance abuse, serious mental health disorders, and brain injuries are our jails.

With or Without TBI, Pursue the Unexpected Opportunities

Dr. Paul Aravich suggests that veterans with TBI should not look at their loss of capacities but rather their different capacities.

The Importance of Focusing on a Healthy and Socially Engaged Lifestyle After TBI

For some people with TBI and their caregivers, life can feel painfully isolated. But trying to focus on one's strengths and a healthy and socially engaged lifestyle can help.

Dealing with the Behavioral Complications of Brain Injury

Dr. Paul Aravich talks about how soldiers, veterans, and civilians can prevent and get treatment for the behavioral complications from TBI that can worsen with age.

Reveling in the "Universe Between Our Ears" — Especially After a TBI

The philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said that humans are "condemned to freedom." What does that mean for people with TBI and their caregivers?

Why Is Brain Injury and Aging So Understudied?

So why are issues of aging, longevity, and the ability to be vulnerable to or resist the diseases of age with a disability like TBI so understudied?

Shade It Black: Death and After in Iraq

The story of one Marine's job retrieving and examing the remains of fellow soldiers lost in combat and the crippling psychological toll this experience took once she was stateside.

Learning to Trust the World After a Brain Injury

Learning to trust the world, to trust caregivers, can be equally if not more effective than drugs for people with executive function or behavioral problems post-TBI.

How TBI and PTSD Are Treated Now in Comparison to the Past

The Similarities and Differences of Treating TBI and PTSD Currently and Historically

In recent wars, there has been more programmatic effort to treat and evaluate soldiers with TBI and PTSD. But are these issues any better resolved than they were 30, 50, 100 years ago?

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