It is common for children to think they are responsible for their parent's brain injury. Psychologists have strategies to talk these emotions through so as to minimize them.
See more videos with Dr. Daisley.
When children believe that they're responsible, it can be difficult to dispel that idea. We try and approach it through education to help the children understand what really did happen to their parent. But we also normalize that reaction. We also say it's normal for people to feel that as if they're to blame. We actually encourage adult family members to maybe share with children some ideas they had about maybe they were to blame too. We open up that discussion so that the children see that they're not the only people thinking this. The hope is that children are more willing to share those with us after the get to know us, and we ask a lot about, "What did you make of what just happened?" and, "Let me check. Do you think you're involved in this?" And children will more readily tell us where they feel responsible. And so it's an ongoing issue.
Posted on BrainLine December 18, 2012.
Produced by Victoria Tilney McDonough, Justin Rhodes, and Erica Queen, BrainLine.