Healing From an Invisible Wound: 3 Veterans Talk About TBI
5-minute read
Healing From an Invisible Wound: 3 Veterans Talk About TBI
5-minute read
Forgetfulness. Headaches. Blurred vision. Sensitivity to light or sound. Being quick to feel anger or frustration. Not feeling like yourself.
These can all be symptoms of traumatic brain injury, also known as TBI.
TBI occurs when there is physical trauma to the brain. That trauma can result from a blow to the head, as in a car crash or explosion. You can also suffer TBI from a blast that doesn’t hit you directly or from a rapid, forceful movement of the head.
The effects of TBI can last long after the events that caused them. Left untreated, these symptoms can lead to other problems, such as social withdrawal and even unhealthy substance use.
Michelle, Ryan, and Patrick—all Veterans of post-9/11 conflicts—each experienced effects from TBI. For them, diagnosis and treatment made a critical, and positive, difference.
Michelle’s story
For Michelle, a TBI diagnosis provided answers and a new beginning.
An Army flight medic, Michelle sustained a TBI while on deployment in Iraq. “We got ambushed. Helmet flew off, and my head hit the side of the Humvee,” she says.
The injury marked the end of Michelle’s military career and left lingering effects. “Anytime I got into a setting that was even remotely stressful, somehow, I would get debilitating migraines,” she says. Michelle began to drink heavily in an attempt to cope with these symptoms, as well as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She says, “I just wanted it all to go away.”
Michelle wasn’t sure what was causing her symptoms. “You feel crazy,” she says. Then she got a brain scan, which showed that a stroke had occurred in her right frontal lobe. The diagnosis validated Michelle’s concerns and gave her the answers she’d been seeking. But that was just the beginning.
“I decided to go to this polytrauma rehab for 90 days inpatient where they treat everything, because I also was dealing with substance abuse issues,” she says. After the inpatient program came outpatient care, trauma therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. For Michelle, EMDR was especially life-changing because it enabled her to process the traumatic events she’d experienced, but in a safe space.
Therapy helped Michelle achieve and maintain sobriety, which, in turn, helped her gain financial stability.
Ryan’s story
For Ryan, a Marine Corps Veteran, therapy gave him tools for coping with the effects of TBI.
Ryan’s injury occurred when he was hit by an improvised explosive device, or IED. “Instead of getting that direct pressure and getting ripped apart, it just kind of tossed me,” he says. He was immediately evacuated and sent home.
The blast left him with significant challenges, including short-term memory loss: “Going to the store and, all of a sudden, you are in the aisle, and you don’t remember what you are looking for,” he says.
The symptoms also affected his interactions with others. “You are present, and you have the conversation—there will just be a piece of something that will get lost,” Ryan notes. He began to experience anxiety and insomnia, which developed into depression. “I didn’t even want to be around anyone,” he says. “I was happy barricading myself in and just being alone in the dark.”
Despite these symptoms, Ryan was cleared to go back on active duty, and he deployed again. For a while, the constant work kept his mind off his symptoms. However, on a break, with time on his hands, he began to act recklessly. “I would go out or just disappear for a couple of days at a time,” he says. Scared by his own behavior, he went to his commanding officer and said that he was having a rough time. From there, Ryan was able to get mental health treatment.
“What helped the most at first was someone listened to you, and someone understood,” Ryan says. He learned that his symptoms weren’t so unusual given the trauma he had experienced. At the same time, he found out that tools and support were available to help him manage his symptoms and begin to heal.
Now Ryan is working to help other Veterans by putting together events and networking with Veteran organizations. Caring for others has helped Ryan feel better, too.
Patrick’s story
For Army Veteran Patrick, mental health treatment brought greater understanding of the impacts of TBI, as well as the means to cope with them.
Patrick sustained a TBI in a vehicle accident in Afghanistan. This left him with effects on his memory, as well as problems with physical intimacy. Patrick also experienced PTSD. “I couldn’t turn off that deployment mentality anymore, where I’m constantly searching for a threat,” he says.
The impacts of both the TBI and PTSD affected his relationship with his wife. “I was quick to anger,” he says. “I didn’t talk to her as much. Our communication went down to, like, very little.” He threw himself into work to avoid the situation.
In search of a better solution, Patrick and his family sought help from VA experts, relocating to an area with a well-regarded TBI clinic. The treatment Patrick received there helped him understand his conditions. He especially valued his providers’ explanations of the difference between PTSD and TBI and the different tools needed to treat each.
For instance, Patrick learned that it’s common for TBI to cause erectile dysfunction. “It’s one thing to take a drug to solve it, but it’s another to deal with the kind of, like, almost shame or the problems you have in your relationship,” he says.
Patrick says now, “They never said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be fine.’” Patrick’s therapists were realistic with Patrick in his recovery, equipping him with tools for coping with his symptoms and for communicating with his wife about what he is going through.
What about your story?
For Michelle, Ryan, and Patrick, a TBI diagnosis and the mental health treatment that followed provided explanations and—after that—a path forward.
Patrick says, “Without the help, I don’t know how well I could’ve made it through all that chaos.”
“I just feel like therapy is good for anybody. Period. End of story,” Michelle says.
Along with therapy, Veterans can find support through connections with their fellow Veterans and specialized groups. “If you are having a tough time, we are here, we are family—reach out,” Ryan says.
If you or a Veteran you care about has symptoms of TBI, help is available.
