If you find yourself feeling anxious or depressed and you’ve had a head injury, you might not immediately connect one to the other, especially if it’s been several months since your injury or your injury was “mild” (mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI, also referred to as a concussion). And yet, rates of anxiety, depression and other adjustment disorders are 10% higher among those who’ve sustained an mTBI in the previous 12 months. Both the physical and mental effects of a TBI can predispose you to mental health issues after the injury.
How does the physical impact of brain injuries affect mental health?
Part of the connection between mental health and TBIs comes from the nature of these injuries. Impact to your head can directly affect your ability to control your emotions and your overall brain chemistry, according to the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA). This is especially true if your injury impacts your frontal lobe, located just behind your forehead. That’s the area of your brain that controls emotion and behavior.
Even if your injury isn’t in this part of your brain, changes in brain chemistry caused by a TBI can affect you. Neurotransmitters, which normally serve as chemical “messengers” carrying information from neuron (a cell that serves as a building block of the brain and central nervous system) to neuron, can be disrupted by a TBI.
How else can a TBI affect your mental health?
As you might expect, changes in your life post-injury at work, school or home can be stressful. So can navigating any changes to memory, attention or thinking that might have resulted from the accident, according to the BIAA. You might also notice that existing mental health issues could be exacerbated by the injury. For example, you may notice anxiety in situations where you were comfortable before.
What can anxiety and depression feel like after a TBI?
Symptoms of anxiety and depression may be similar regardless of whether you’ve had a TBI.
Anxiety symptoms could include increased heart rate, restlessness, excessive worry, fear, difficulty sleeping, and irritability. Depression can feel like persistent sadness, loss of interest in activities, fatigue, lack of motivation, changes in appetite, difficulty sleeping, and feelings of hopelessness.
What options do you have to support your mental health after a TBI?
The good news is that there are many ways you can support your recovery, both through self-care and through treatment with a qualified healthcare provider. At home, according to the BIAA, simple steps such as taking time to notice your feelings, identifying situations and stressors that worsen symptoms, practicing calming techniques and trying to be patient with yourself can all help.
If you feel you need additional support, personalized treatment plans can help you manage your symptoms. At Apex, we specialize in addressing the unique mental health needs of people like you who are recovering from physical injuries, including TBIs. Through multiple modalities including psychotherapy, cognitive rehabilitation and medication management, we can work with you to improve your mental health and wellbeing. It’s easy to be frustrated if you feel your recovery is going slowly or you’ve hit a roadblock. Working with a healthcare professional can help you feel more motivated to keep moving through challenges and staying resilient.
Ready to take the first step?
You can find out more about supporting your recovery with Apex Neurobehavioral Health HERE.
Image Source: Unsplash (Kelly Sikkema)