"I wish I were in wheelchair, then people would understand that something's wrong with me," said a patient of clinical psychologist Mariann Young.
See more video clips with Dr. Mariann Young.
About the author: Mariann Young, PhD, CBIS
Mariann Young, PhD, CBIS, is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked with children, adolescents and young adults with TBIs for over 20 years initially at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and currently at Rainbow Rehabilitation Centers, Inc.
Produced by Victoria Tilney McDonough and Justin Rhodes, BrainLine.
Comments (1)
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Emily Mc replied on Permalink
Thanks for bringing attention to this problem. I got my TBI at 20 years old, and almost 6 years later my own family doesn't think anything is wrong with me because I look fine. My mom and I are very close and my neurosurgeon told her I was going to be fine when I woke up from a coma and responded with struggle when the doctor asked my name. I think he meant by saying I was going to be fine was that I'm going to recover to walking and talking. The neuro rehab I was at didn't even make sure my family understood the outlook. A year after the accident we would get in huge fights because I tried to tell her that I wasn't fine and she would scold me saying the doctor said I'm fine and the pain I was in was fantic pain from the opioid medication, and it might have been a little but 3 years later I get the same pain (my spine was fractured, I had metal hardware in my chest, my hips were misaligned because I fractured and rotated my hip, I had been paralyzed on my left side, my skull was badly fractured), I could go on; how could anyone that goes through injuries that many injuries at once not be in pretty significant pain. I had a hemorrhage in the posterior horn, cranial edema, and swelling from a thrombosis in the jugular one of the skull fractures caused and I am definitely not the same. My life was ruined. I just said 2 days ago to my mom that I wish something was physically wrong with me because I feel like people dont understand, especially the visual disturbances I've had for 2 years ,I have streaks or flashes in my vision constantly and it's been getting worse and it's my depression is tanking. If I can't find a diagnosis that will provide me with effective treatment I'll have to drop out of college. They should show a video like this for invisible illness to show to students the first day of high school, and briefly explain PTSD, TBI, autoimmune, etc and then something about how to treat the peers that are living with any disability. there are some high schools (like the one I went to that ignore kids living with disabilities