Comments on: I am listening… just my brain injury keeps phasing out.

By: Michelle #jumbledbrain

Michelle #jumbledbrain — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 16:52:28 +0000

In reply to Paula Morton. It's difficult when we just can't take in what someone is saying to us thanks to a short attention span

By: Paula Morton

Paula Morton — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 16:36:59 +0000

I have often had people say to me “”you don’t listen” even though I am listening. If I’m very anxious I find that my mind starts to wonder off on me, just when I was going to say something, but I must admit thatmy attention span is very poor and so is my processing speed.

By: Michelle #jumbledbrain

Michelle #jumbledbrain — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 18:17:36 +0000

In reply to Sydney. Hi Sydney, it's hard knowing that you can't rely on your own memory. But I'm glad you have others that are there for you.

By: Sydney

Sydney — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 18:11:10 +0000

I'm so glad I came across this today. This describes exactly how I feel after my injury. Like someone else stated, I can always feel my brain slipping away like sand. I always need someone else with me for important appointments because I know I won't remember what I was told and everything will be paraphrased horribly. So thankful for this page

By: Michelle #jumbledbrain

Michelle #jumbledbrain — Fri, 01 May 2020 15:24:44 +0000

In reply to SUSAN G FOX. Thanks Susan, I haven’t tried that before but I’m definitely going to give it a try

By: SUSAN G FOX

SUSAN G FOX — Fri, 01 May 2020 14:02:34 +0000

One thing that can really help is relaxed breathing. This helps increase oxygen to the brain. Additionally, I do something called Jin Shin Jyutsu (www.jsjinc.net). This is not a martial art but instead the ancient universal art of releasing tension.

A simple thing to do is if I feel worried, I wrap the fingers of my left hand around my right thumb. It releases worry energy flowing through my body. We are actually an energy system. So, tapping into my body’s energy system, doing just this one movement relaxes me. When I’m relaxed my brain chemistry also balances which improves memory and communication abilities.

As I hold my thumb, I inhale and exhale up to ten relaxing breaths. Then, I pay attention again to what was being said. The other fingers (in order from index, middle, ring and pinky) address fear, anger, grief and false pretenses about my situations.

Thanks so much for publishing your blog. You share really great information!

By: Michelle #jumbledbrain

Michelle #jumbledbrain — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 15:10:20 +0000

In reply to Jenny Hughes. Exhaustion does make everything so much harder, and listening, decoding, understanding and responding is a process which takes up a lot of brain power, even if people don’t realise it.

By: Jenny Hughes

Jenny Hughes — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 12:50:55 +0000

Yes, I have trouble understanding speech & talking, but it’s hard to describe because at the time nobody would realise & nor do I until after when my brain ticks over what they & I said replay in my head and I realise I answered a question wrong (might sound like a lie) or said the opposite to what I wanted & needed to say in answer to a simple question, and then then it’s too late – but I have emailed people & rung them when I realise and then try to say it right & explain after because I worry about it so much because I never want to say things wrong or appear to be a liar, it’s really awful. and has made me lose lots of confidence – I’m scared I’ll keep doing it. I wish people would ask me again (maybe then or a bit later) to check I gave the right reply but that would be so annoying for them – and maybe at the time I would forget why they need to do that for me. Also I know I often talk more than listen and this must come over as me being self-centred but a big part of it is that for me it’s less exhausting to talk than to try to understand speech, for those (not many) who’ve heard me when I can hardly talk when I’m too stressed or exhausted that will give some idea of how hard it is to understand when they know that’s even more difficult, but mostly people only see or hear me when I’m at my best because otherwise I’m silent and hiding indoors. I really hate being like this, I try so hard to improve but mega stresses make me worse and I regress, so sad & hard work for me because my short-term memory gets really awful so I forget lots & make far more stupid mistakes when doing things and get more clumsy which sometimes means I then have to clean/wipe stuff up = yet more work & exhaustion. Sorry, I’ve gone on too long but this is such an important & complicated subject, thank you for highlighting it and helping us to know we’re not alone and for educating others too – I don’t think doctors or mostly anybody really knows much about all these ‘subtle/mild’ symptoms we struggle with – and I’m still learning about how I am – but then forget & must relearn, repeat…

By: michelle.munt@yahoo.co.uk

michelle.munt@yahoo.co.uk — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 09:20:07 +0000

In reply to M. Espey. Yes I know what you mean. I think we have to let go of our pride and at the start of an important conversation like that with the school principle, we need to explain at the beginning. Hopefully then when we stop following they can be prepared and know that they need to bear with us.

By: M. Espey

M. Espey — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 21:21:43 +0000

I struggle with this daily during most conversations. I lose big chunks and can feel my brain slipping away like sand. I had trouble listening to my child’s principal about a learning issue without doing it. I was very frustrated. Luckily my husband can recognize it when it happens and try’s to buy me time to recover. Unfortunately he is not always around and I don’t always recover before the conversation is over so most people just think I space out. I get angry and frustrated frequently. It’s a learning process.