The old you rarely returns. What I did was make a whole new start. I explained to those who'd listen that I am a different person. A traumatic brain injury is just that, traumatic. My family, in the beginning couldn't understand and thought I was faking. Once they realized I couldn't remember or understand something or that I had become someone else, they began to slowly learn about me. I cut loose everything I thought I was and simply live life as it comes. It isn't easy at first but after a while you'll find yourself flying! It just takes time. In my case, it took moving to a new city for a year then moving back. You can't let what you used to do dictate who you have become. Find your new niche and have a ball!

i completely understand...after my accident i battled depression. even now four years later my short term memory is horrible, i have trouble concentrating and connecting the dots sometimes. if it helps talk to a counselor...thats what helped me.

I had a closed brain injury (brain shear) and can now suddenly draw amazing things whereas before the wreck I couldn't draw any better than a 5 yr old, lol. I still have my sense of humor, it may be stronger now but I lose my train of thought and just don't feel as brainy (lol) as I used to be.

When I first started talking again (5 mths after the wreck, I had a traech tube in my throat) I slurred my speech really bad. It literally felt like my tongue was twisting and tying up. Now, 7 yrs later I only slur if I am really tired or have talked extensively.

I am really self concious whereas before I was confident. I don't like to go out because I am now shy. I didn't used to be. I am in a wheelchair but learning how to walk. The thing is I get really dizzy and have balance issues but it seems to slowly be going away.

weird as it may seem, my b.i. cause no cognition/memory problems and no real emotional or personality changes. however it wrecked my body. i went from bein a 6'8'' 22yr old college basketball player to a man that is both quad and mute.

this caused me to battle depression for 3yrs so i guess tbi indirectly caused that battle. i have a little trouble socially now because alot of my confidence is gone, howeve most of my problems socially have more to deal with other people. because i am mute most people assume i am mentally retarded because they dont take the time to find out i'm not which is immensely frustrating.

weird as it may seem, my b.i. cause no cognition/memory problems and no real emotional or personality changes. however it wrecked my body. i went from bein a 6'8'' 22yr old college basketball player to a man that is both quad and mute.

this caused me to battle depression for 3yrs so i guess tbi indirectly caused that battle. i have a little trouble socially now because alot of my confidence is gone, howeve most of my problems socially have more to deal with other people. because i am mute most people assume i am mentally retarded because they dont take the time to find out i'm not which is immensely frustrating.

My husband was in a motorcycle accident a few years back and the ER said he had a concussion. After the accident, he could barely speak, slurred words, couldn't express himself well, used one word replies, etc. He just seemed "fuzzy". As months went by, I started noticing that his behavior was somehow different. He was less himself than before. He was quick to anger, didn't care about the family anymore, was rougher with me, started gambling and spending inordinate amounts of time with bad crowds, started having fights with people at work, etc. I thought he was cheating on me or in financial trouble. I followed him around all the time. I had no idea that it might be due to brain injury until consulting a medical professional because I was going crazy trying to deal with him and about 2 seconds away from leaving him. He's still not his old self by a mile-he's calmed down a bit, but he's just not the sweet and unique person he was before the accident. It makes me sad, but I just learn to accept him as he is. I look back at pictures of him before the accident, and I can even see the difference on his face. Its very eerie and upsetting. I've seen all the writing on here about re-finding yourself, finding a new niche, etc. How can I help him to do this? I want him to be happy and content, not this angry, miserable person that he's become.

I have encountered massive personality changes to the point i have been constantly arguing with my family. I hate it and more so hate that i get soooo wound up at things i used to easily remain perfectly calm at. My patience no longer exists and repetition irritates me like no tomorrow however my short term memory is so awful that i can forget something i have been told almost instantly yet i have a problem when it is someone else asking to repeat or automatically repeating themselves. I have been trying so hard to make changes as i don't want to be this person who has one rule for herself yet cant do as she says- and i have been doing so by keeping my mouth shut at times i have just wanted to say so many things, but is so hard. What has happened to me? How can i get the old me back? I have developed this aggressive and critical outlook to life and have even at times searched for the bad in something so good, just to satisfy my internal craving to justify that nothing in this world is perfect and the only thing constant in life is that change will happen. Someone please tell me how to cope with this change and let me know is there are any herbal remedies, mind training programmes or techniques out there that help you to become more tolerant and to regain my love for things i used to. I am desperate to find a life of clarity again.

yeah it is I'm sad to say quite normal for there to be huge changes in your personality. My traffic accident was 3 years ago and although people rallied around me at first well most did there was a small number who just didn't care or want to know but as soon as I got home from my long stay in hospital I started losing friends. It kept going and a year and a half later my fiance who kept pushing backthe ate of our wedding walked out o me and more friends got mad and left me. I am much slower and it takes me ages to work out a joke so long that it is just not funny anymore and I can not focus and stay with a film anymore things like that. Things have changed so much but although I HEAR 3 YEARS IS NOT TAHT LONG MY LIFE IS REALLY GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME. i STILL HAVE VERY DARK days but I seem able to get through them. I have made some new friends and seem easily able to make friends but there are new issues so they know what happened and what to be ready for. None of the new ones have got mad at me for saying or doing something stupid yet but at the same time I'm not sure they really get it. There is one or two though that get it better and I guess i am lucky to have these ones. I'm not a kid anymore and I don't need so many friends but knowing i have people to call up when I need to is good enough. When my boyfriend left me I was gutted. I felt like he was why I was stll allive but I'm doing ok now. Things have changed so much and I have have had to come to terms with this and learn to love the new me and i do now. I think this is important. You have to at least be ok with who you are now. We've come through so much and we've changed and many will not be able to understand this but this is life and we have another shot at it so we just have to make the most of it. Life goes on, it almost didn't for us but we have another chance so even if we are different now we need to embrace life and I'm sure things will come good again, thats wht I'm waiting for anyhow

I totally understand this too. I don't have a lot of the memories that a lot of TBI sufferers have because most of them have had their TBIs later in life. My TBI happened when I was 4 but my mom and all my siblings have said to me that I used to be very outgoing, loud and showing off for everyone who would watch. Now when I hear stories it's like my family is talking about someone else. I'm like "Are you sure that was me?" They all tell me yes but sometimes I just have to wonder if that was really me.

I haven't found "me" yet. My personality is very different. I use to be very bubbly and outgoing. Spoke my mind on issues and was very confident. I didn't intent to intimidate people, but I was told that I did.

Now I am using all my energy to grasp what is happening in my surroundings. Getting a sensory overload that sometimes shuts down my brain and I detach from what is going on. I am more mellow, and serene. Not as confident and certainly not bold.

It has been 11 years since I sustained a brain injury. I still am not comfortable with the 'new' me.

HI everyone, Im new to the site but I just wanted to say that I def have personality changes, I don't like the same music that I did and prob the weirdest change of all was before the brain injury I was a very strict vegan and since the accident I have to eat meat everyday or I actually will binge on it.. Its quite disturbing.. I also have withdrawn from all my friends, I hate that they are always compairing me now to me then and for some reason they always like to say do u remember when this happened when we all know I have memory problems.. So my solution is to not talk to anyone anymore and that has only left me lonely and depressed, it also doesnt help that I have sound and light sensitivity so going out in crowds is extremly hard..

My suggestion for the light sensitivity is getting a pair of rose colored glasses. I don't remember what my doctor gave me and can't find the info. (Something like Rose 2 tint). That cuts down the stimulus to the part of the brain that is effecting you. If I find the exact color I will tell you.

My experience with so called 'friends', has been that they are insulted by me and are annoyed. When I bring out my impairments so they will understand me they take offense to memory problems. They minimize it and say we all forget at times. Always come back comparing myself to them. When they are insulted is when I mention I have a brain injury. "Well, you are much smarter then me, so you are telling me I must be brain damaged."

hi all
been suffering with my tbi for 13 year and it hasnt got any easier
did any1 loose there earing at all ?
i did in my right ere and now i have sever tinitus
i have all the problems thateveryone has described here
i have no friends enymore luckly i have a loving girlfriend and she takes me for who i am
light and noise do my head in aswell lol
memery problems
very bad sleep disorder
hard to bring my thoughts to my mouth
for years i have kept my self isolated from the world because people dont understand,and like a few have said compare themselfs to me ,,and heres why i think they do that
so meany people are so vain when you try to explain a problem you/we might be talking about somthing simuler to what they have experienced and they automatacly think your talking about them / hurting there ego as i put it ) well thats how i see it
but i also see that just cause old freinds dont like you anymore doesnt mean no one will find new friends away from the idiots that abandond you
I used to love music comedy exersice ,not any more the only thing i can really get into is WOW and dvds but i cant watch normal tv, maby to much reality that i decided to abandon years ago
i try new things but its stressfull instead of joyfull
god im rambaling again lol
well i have u all find away to cope and good luck with whatever the future brings

Hi, I am very new to the group, but when I saw this I started crying and had to reply. I have had my brain injury for 2 years and my personality has changed drastically. My husband, friends, and family have all noticed. Friends have left and family even looks at me strange. I cry all the time and take things very personally, like people are attacking me. I isolate myself a lot. I'm very depressed. I used to love people and helping others and now I can't even help myself. I snap at almost everyone and I don't know how to love it feels like. My self or really anyone. I've tried goodbye letters and scrapbooking and it helped some but then its like two steps back. I try positive quotes and I'm in therapy and that's a little helpful but I get made at her too. I don't know how to start to heal but I know I won't ever be who I was before. I just started EMDR so I'm hopeful that may help! My thoughts are with you as I know this is so very hard.

I am different, but I do not know all of the ways I am different. I know people tell me that they miss the old me. I miss the carefree happy part of me, but I dont know what everyone else misses.
It kills me when my dad says he misses the old me. :(
I do know that I really like R&B/Pop music more now. Makes me happy.
I have lost my ability to sit and read a book. I used to LOVE to read. I was a big book nerd.
There is more, but I am too tired to write more and I feel like I could just go on a rampage right now. I do miss my anger control for sure. I snap a lot!!!