Comments on: Is my brain injury making me a bad friend?

By: Michelle #jumbledbrain

Michelle #jumbledbrain — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 19:07:04 +0000

In reply to Phil See. I didn't know that, thanks Phil

By: Phil See

Phil See — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 16:28:37 +0000

Yes, that’s the beauty of close friendships, they are effortless and distance isn’t a factor! The human brain’s information speed has been clocked at 268 miles per hour. This is among the 1 quadrillion connections it makes from its some 86 billion neurons to other neurons so when we think of someone, it doesn’t take long at all to reach them no matter how far away they are. Thank you for all you are doing!

By: Michelle #jumbledbrain

Michelle #jumbledbrain — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 15:00:59 +0000

In reply to Phil See. Thanks Phil. I do consider H a real friend and I'm sure if she'd seen me she would have known something wasn't right. We are such good friends that we don't need to work at our relationship and call each other all the time to maintain it. We can just pick off when we left off, there's no pressure, it's a very natural connection which is handy as we live so far apart. (I moved to the other side of the country long before my accident, so I take full responsibility for the physical distance involved.)

By: Phil See

Phil See — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 13:07:58 +0000

We all have an amazing mental/spiritual connection with the people we love and it is that kind of bond that close friends have with each other, where they/we can feel if there is something ailing with one another. Real friends know that you have special needs when your brain is injured, either by a TBI or in my case, a degenerative disease like Multiple Sclerosis where one develops lesions in their brain where the fatty protein called Myelin that coats the nerves is attacked by our own autoimmune system. That said, the only reasonable expectations one should set for themselves is meeting small baby-steps goals, and through willpower, persistence, and repetition, with reasonable rest in between, we can invoke our built-in-from-birth process called neuroplasticity, to repair or reroute neural pathways, and heal and/or recover lost dexterity.

By: michelle.munt@yahoo.co.uk

michelle.munt@yahoo.co.uk — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 21:31:55 +0000

In reply to Linda Restivo. If you ever want to write a guest post for me please just let me know. Running a blog takes more time and effort than I thought it would when I started it, so I’m trying to help others get their stories out there through me site.

By: Linda Restivo

Linda Restivo — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 21:10:20 +0000

20 years and I still cannot get it together enough to start a blog. Thank you for starting yours….

By: michelle.munt@yahoo.co.uk

michelle.munt@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 17:20:52 +0000

In reply to Ellen Andersen. I have been told before that the expectations I put on myself are unreasonable. I hold myself to higher standards than I put on others which shows I make things difficult for myself. So I think that you’re right Ellen.

By: Ellen Andersen

Ellen Andersen — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 16:41:33 +0000

I think it’s easy to put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Brain injury affects our mental capacities and therefore our thinking before we say things. It also affects our endurance, so too much stimulation weighs on us more than it used to.

We need to let other people know this. We ALSO need to respect and limit the expectations we put on ourselves, like automatically responding to someone else’s need.

It doesn’t mean we’re “not good friends.” It does mean we have to change what we choose to be involved in so that the quality of our relationships is good.