grumpy Archives - Jumbledbrain

Hangry vs brain injury. Let’s avoid the grumpy outcome.

Michelle #jumbledbrain — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 13:59:02 +0000

Often it’s after you missed lunch at work, or you’re starving but you need to sort the kids out first. Your frown is making a tight knot in your forehead, and just about everything is annoying. This has been informally titled “Hangry”, an amalgam of ‘hungry’ and ‘angry’, since the 1990’s. Not everyone gets it, but you might find you do following a brain injury.

My hangry episodes.

I can range from grumbling somethings in the wrong place, to shouting “You moron! Move over!” at middle lane drivers on the motorway. Please don’t write in telling me your reasons for hogging the middle lane if you do this. Believe me, I’m well aware of your arguments, but you’re just wrong. Wish more of you got points and a fine for it as you clearly don’t understand how your actions contribute to accidents. THAT’S WHY IT’S AGAINST THE HIGHWAY CODE!!

Sorry about that. That’s always been a pet hate of mine, but I admit I probably get more animated about it these days. In fact I could write a whole book on just that, but I won’t.

I have however, started to realise it might coincide with my hunger levels when I can’t hold back from shouting abuse. (Don’t worry, the windows are always closed so it’s unlikely I offend anyone.) I don’t think this used to happen to me before my brain injury, but if it did it wasn’t nearly as noticeable.

Why hangry happens.

In short, your digestive system breaks down what you have eaten into sugars, amino-acids and free fatty acids. This allows them to be directed to the organs that need this energy and nutrients to complete their functions. As the brain consumes 20% of your energy, and relies heavily on glucose (the fiendish sweet tooth that it is) if your levels drop too far, it begins to struggle. You might find concentration a bigger problem than usual, your speech might become slurred, and in general you make more mistakes.

But mammals have evolved over over the last 120 million years, so surely the body has a response to this? I mean cave man couldn’t demand his dinner on the table by 6.30 pm if he had failed to find anything. And yes it has got something up it’s sleeve for this, but it’s less than ideal.

Your sugar fiend of a brain can make your system increase the levels of hormones that increase the bloodstreams sugar levels. But before you start cheering for your clever brain, it’s greedy response comes at a price. The 4 hormones it uses in this process include epinephrine and cortisol, AKA Adrenalin. You might remember from 7 Executive dysfunction challenges after brain injury that these stress hormones induce the “flight or fight” response. This can leaves us feeling edgy and make us more snappy. And if you have a brain injury, you need to try to reduce your stress levels. As I wrote in Stress has a big impact on brain injury these hormones can interrupt the creation of new axons, which we need for learning and memory. Important for everyone, but vital for a brain injury survivors recovery.

How to avoid becoming hangry.

Well, eat before you get too hungry. But there some some foods which are unhelpful so try not to be tempted. Sweets, chocolate, crisps (that’s potato chips to my American friends) might be quick and easy, but are not a great option. They are loaded with glucose which makes your levels shoot up, but then you have a sugar crash, leaving you in the same if not worst position as you were before. Foods high in nutrients are much better, like fresh vegetables and protein. Fruit also has lots of sugar, so whilst it has great vitamins, try to find something less sweet, like carrots.

Having a routine can help too. Don’t skip meals, and if you are going to have dinner a bit later because you’re going out, have a light snack before to tide you over. No one wants to be grumpy when they have that well earned visit to the restaurant. I know sometimes it ends that way if the service is bad, or some brat starts a food fight, but let’s give ourselves the best chance of having a good time.

Do you find you can become hangry? And did it happen before your brain injury as well?

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Impatient insight. 5 tips on building tolerance after brain injury.

Michelle #jumbledbrain — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:12:28 +0000

“Good things come to those who wait”, that’s what my Mum always told me, amongst other things. Those wise words helped me to grow up to be a respectful and patient person. Even if someone was really pushing my buttons, I was strong enough to soak it up and not give them the pleasure of seeing me crack. (Most of the time.) Following my accident, I am still more impatient than I used to be. But I am building my internal strength again and thought I would share how with you all.

Rigid expectations

My thinking process was affected in my brain injury, and I feel some of my unfavourable characteristics were exacerbated. As I was over the turbulent teens, and twitchy twenties I was more self assured in my tenacious thirties. So I couldn’t accept that I was wrong about a lot of things. Or at least that there might be elements I hadn’t considered. That made me have skewed views, and led to impatient behaviour. At the time though, I’m not sure I understood this. It’s only as I have regained insight that I my caught myself doing it. Initially all I could do was acknowledge it, but not stop it.

Demanding millennials

I was ashamed that I had morphed into this grumpy, ungrateful person. That wasn’t what my parents taught me to be. Recently I read an article about how employers are having to develop new ways to cope with a workforce which includes millennials. On average they are the most demanding and impatient age group in living memory. Apparently as they have been brought up at a time when their parents were living on credit and over stretching themselves to give their children the best of everything, they have an attitude of entitlement. This rubs other colleagues up the wrong way, as they believe in earning things through hard work, results and loyalty.

Not fitting the mould

Technically as I was born in the early 80’s I am in the millennials group. But I don’t identify with this behaviour at all. Maybe that’s because my parents were older and therefore had a slightly more “old fashioned” approach. I wasn’t given the opportunity to be fussy about food. “You’ll get what you’re given, or go hungry” and “You can leave the table when everyone has finished” were mantras I heard a lot. I’m sure some of my peers would have felt that was strict, but actually it helped teach me manners and the importance of being considerate to others.

And I was taught to save up for things. I didn’t get pocket money so any money from birthdays and Christmas I squirrelled away so when I next saw something I wanted I might be able to buy it. If not I would have to carry on saving up for it. But my parents weren’t poor, and I didn’t go without. We had great holidays and lived in a beautiful Georgian house. They explained it was only possible to afford that lifestyle through their hard work, and saving where possible.

Spurred into action

Whilst my behaviour still was different from what this article described, it got my thinking. I felt so annoyed at the image, whether it is accurate or not, I knew I needed to make sure I would never reflect it. Having accepted that my irritability at times is connected to my impatient behaviour, I decided to change it. So this is a journey but I am getting closer to the old me, who I like better. Here’s the 5 actions I’m using to get me there:

1. Be aware of your impatient buttons

When we are stuck in traffic there is always someone who is honking their horn, even though no one can go anywhere any faster. So their action doesn’t achieve anything, apart from make everyone else role their eyes. But whilst most of us queue obediently in the traffic, our minds can be a different picture. Whilst thinking of all the things we have on our to do list (or worrying about the things you can’t remember that need to be on your list) can make us feel hurried.

Writing down all the thoughts whizzing around in your head can help you to see what’s important, and what are not so urgent. This helps you feel more in control and might lead to somethings even being deleted off your list.

2. Take a deep breath

Imagine you’re in that traffic jam, and there’s nothing you can do but wait. Do you find yourself sighing? It’s a natural reaction but actually it’s the key. Focus on those deep breaths and it will help to calm your mind.

3. Learn to wait for it

We have grown to expect things too quickly. Ordering online probably has a lot to do with this as the world has been put at our fingertips. But if we make ourselves wait sometimes we appreciate it more when it arrives. Like when I would save up for things when I was young. My friends probably already had it ages ago, but when I finally used my cash to buy it, it meant the world to me.

4. Embrace change

Routine is important, particularly for those of us with memory issues. But that doesn’t mean we can’t add in new things sometimes. Just because something is different we can become uncomfortable. But it we introduce a little bit at a time we can prove to ourselves that we can become stronger.

5. Be grateful

We all have different challenges and that can become overwhelming. But if you spend some time considering all the things you have to be thankful for, you become more optimistic. That traffic jam is taking up your precious time, but it might have been caused by a car accident. We are so lucky to live in a world where the emergency services do all they can to help in these situations. A lot of people were extremely late of work, school, whatever the day I had my accident. But they were grateful that they weren’t in my place that day.

You might find it useful to practice mindfulness meditation too. If that has always sounded a bit complicated to you read Mindfulness in 5 easy steps. Regain balance. It might help you get started.

Do you find you are more impatient after your injury? Have you found a way to take a step back?

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