Traumatic Brain Injury — Stress, Anxiety and Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Part 3
Posted by Second Chance to Live on November 23, 2009
Please read Part 1, Part 2 for context. Thank you.
The impact of increased stress and sensory overload may result in increased fatigue, impulsivity and misunderstood behavior. Ongoing stress and sensory overloads adversely impact the brain injury survivor’s immune system — thus making the brain injury survivor more susceptible to infection and becoming sick. I can attest to this reality. Consequently, the brain injury survivor needs to pay special attention when they experience ongoing anxiety and stress during the holiday season.
With the awareness the brain injury survivor can take steps to practice health self-care to reduce their stress and anxiety. Please read my 3 part article Traumatic Brain Injury, Fatigue, Anxiety, Anguish and Depression for healthy self-caring suggestions.
As hustle and bustle the holiday season contribute to stress and anxiety, expectations contribute to stress and anxiety. These expectations can be linked to repressed disappointments and resentments from past Thanksgiving’s, Christmas’s and New Years’s get together’s with family. With increased anxiety and stress abusive behavior may be exhibited by family members. These behaviors can be the result of familiar family system roles.
These roles are frequently re-activated as the nuclear and extended family members interact with one another during Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.
Such roles that can be exhibited by family members are the — Hero, Lost child, Mascot, Scapegoat, Identified Patient. These roles may have been given to family members to contain unresolved family pain and to mask family secrets. For a further explanation, please read my articles — Traumatic Brain Injury, Family System Roles and Learning to Thrive and Traumatic Brain Injury and the Identified Patient.
These roles are enforced — some times overtly and other times covertly — by the three rules. These three rules are frequently manifested with in dysfunctional family systems. For further explanation please read my articles Don’t Talk, Don’t Trust and Don’t Feel, The Three Rules Revisited — Consequences and Displaced Sadness.
Please read Part 4 for context. Thank you.
If you have any questions or would like to make a comment please use my Contact Information Page.
You may receive more articles like this one by Subscribing to Second Chance to Live
Bookmark and Share Second Chance to Live with your friends Subscribe in a Feed Reader
All material presented on Second Chance to Live is copyright and cannot be, copied, reproduced, or distributed in any way without the express, written consent of Craig J. Phillips, MRC, BA Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND
This entry was posted on November 23, 2009 at 7:55 pm and is filed under 12 Step Recovery, ABI: Acquired Brain Injury, abuse and neglect, abuse and trauma, Acquired Brain Injury, acquired brain injury and feeling alienated, Adult Children of Alcoholics, adult children of alcoholics and traumatic brain injuries, Adult Children of Alcoholics living with traumatic / acquired brain injuries, Awareness Acceptance Action, Bob Woodruff, brain injured soldiers, Brain Injury Education, Caregivers for people with traumatic / acquired brain injuries, celebrities with brain injuries, Closed Head Injury, combating brain injury isolation, Department of Veteran Affairs, Families impacted by brain injuries, family, Finding Freedom From Perfectionism, Friends, Fulfilling your Destiny, head injury, Healthy Self-Care, Identified Patient, Invisible Disability, learning disabilities, life challenging experiences, living life on life's terms, living my destiny, living with a brain injury, Living with a Disability, Living with a Invisible Disability and feeling shame, living with a traumatic / acquired brain injury, Living with a traumatic brain injury and feeling shame, Living with an Invisible Disability, living with meaning and purpose, messages of hope and inspiration, Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Military Personell impacted by Traumatic Brain Injuries, Military Traumatic Brain Injury Support Meetings, No Longer a Victim, Overcome Being Bullied, Overcoming Societal Stigmatization, Parents of children with Acquired brain injuries, Personal empowerment, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Post Traumatic Syndrome and Suicide, PTSD, Revealing your Destiny, self-esteem, Self-Respect, Soldiers and Marines who sustained traumatic brain injuries, stroke, Subdural Hematoma, Suicide and Hope, tbi adults, tbi children, tbi families, tbi veterans, Traumatic / Acquired Brain Injury and Anger, Traumatic Brain and Comfort, Traumatic Brain Injury and being Bullied, traumatic brain injury and frustration, Traumatic Brain Injury and Hope, Traumatic Brain Injury and Significance, Traumatic Brain Injury and What is my Destiny?, Traumatic Brain Injury and You, traumatic brain injury feeling alienated isolated, traumatic brain Injury in adults, Traumatic Brain Injury in children, traumatic brain injury Iraq, Traumatic Brain Injury Self-Esteem and Self-Worth, Traumatic Brain Injury Support Groups / Meetings, traumatic brain injury treatment, Veterans Living with Brain Injuries, What is my Destiny?. Tagged: Addressing feelings or Isolation, Breaking free from feelings of alienation / isolation, How to enjoy Thanksgiving Christmas and New Years, Learning to Love Yourself during the Holidays, Relationships during the Holidays, Stress Anxiety during the Holidays, Surviving the Holidays with Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
