About The Author
In June of 2007, I had a global, acquired brain injury (ABI) resulting from a suicide attempt, technically termed encepalopathy. I was seriously mentally impaired. Through such practices as neurofeedback, Brain State Technologies’ brain optimization, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, acupuncture, voice therapy, music therapy, cranial sacral massage, hypercapnia, visualization, meditation, cross lateral movement, bikram yoga, daily cardiovascular exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy and more, I have made a remarkable recovery and continue to improve. I still talk funny and have some slight manual dexterity issues, but, even with those, I am better than ever.
By changing my thoughts and perception of life, I have changed my world and this, in turn, has changed my physical brain and my default mode of brain operation. Our brains are neuroplastic, and we can shape them and change them by the things we do repeatedly in our lives. We have much more power to recover from a brain injury, improve our brain’s functioning, and to create our own happiness and reality with our brain than we ever knew. Neuroplasticity is the magic wand we all have. I like to share information about the tools to do this, the journeys I and others have been on to accomplish this and encourage you to embark upon your own.
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Debbie, I just wanted to share with you how much I am enjoying “getting acquainted” with you through your blog. Thank you for sharing you journey, your challenges and your joy. It is very inspiring. Many that we work with at Brain State Technologies are on a similar path, so your words help me achieve deeper understanding.
Thank you for your oh so kind words! Just finished another round of Brain Optimization today…70 sessions so far. I am still seeing results…so still gonna keep going periodically. I am the best client my practitioner has ever had! They love me.
It is my hope/plan to come get trained to do Brain Optimization sometime in the next year. Look forward to getting to be immersed in the BST environment. Plus, I feel so passionate about it and am a living testimonial for it. Amazing stuff!
Do you know of any research using this BST with Parkinson’s patients, I’d like to use it in my practice!
By BST, I am assuming you mean Brain State. I do not know of specific research with Parkinson’s, but I can tell you the stuff is AMAZINGLY MIRACULOUS, and I believe it would improve any brain in any condition.
Contact the people at BST directly. They are very accessible and responsive. It is a small, unintimidating company. I have communicated with Brandon Jansen (Brandon.Jansen@BrainStatetech.com) and Dianne Price (Dianne.Price@BrainStatetech.com). They are in sales and marketing, but could point you in the right direction. My local practitioner Nora Henderson (nora.henderson@brainfsa.com) is also very knowledgeable.
The CEO, Lee Gerdes, does online live interactive chat sessions regularly also where you can ask him anything directly.
I know it would help. I would highly recommend it for anything brain related.
What are the limits of neuroplasticity? What is fixed by genetics?
To my understanding, there are not any set limits of neuroplasticy that are similar for every one. This is very individualistic and influenced greatly by things like age, diet, health, lifestyle, etc. Aerobic exercise greatly increases neuroplasticity. A brain healthy diet increases neuroplasticity. Certain supplements and drugs increase neuroplasticity. Meditation, visualization and brain training can encourage neuroplasticity. You can consciously do things to increase neuroplasticity.
For instance, a therapy that is greatly successful with stroke patients, “taub therapy” includes confining the “good” hand/arm/limb and using only the impaired one. This causes the brain to grow new connections to begin allow use of the impaired one. It does take time and consistency. In one experiment in which sighted participants were blindfolded around the clock, the “seeing” parts of their brains started processing hearing and feeling IN JUST FIVE DAYS. Neuroplasticity is fast. With determination, you can change your brain and life.
For further info, see http://www.thebestbrainpossible.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-2 and http://www.thebestbrainpossible.com/seeing-thunder-and-hearing-lightening.
would this help PTSD ? sounds like it would.
I do not know specifically which therapy to which you are referring, but, most everything I have done would also help PTSD. The Brain Optimization has been VERY successful for PTSD and is being utilized in treating war veterans. The stuff is AMAZING. More info: http://brainstatetech.com/
I really like your blog and know how hard recovering from a brain is and continues to be because of all the judging. I just finished a task that most without a TBI would attempt. Would love to continue connecting everyone to make a difference with awareness and all the amazing possibilities. I hope you check out my blog on my site to see my recent journey.
Oh, Josh. What an inspiring story. Great for you! Thank you for raising the awareness of brain injuries. People HAVE to know that they too can rehab and recover as much as they can, but they have to be willing to WORK for it just as you have…and I did. It becomes your life. Every day. It CAN be done! Thank you for your example! I get nervous just watching you ride. Please be careful!
Your story is amazing. I’m very interested in Brain development especially in early childhood. I’m glad to have found your website and I’m looking forward to reading through some more!!
Betsy at Zen Mama recently posted..Be The Change You Want To See In Your Family
Thank you so much, Betsy. It has been an interesting, growth filled journey, for sure. A blessing in disguise, I like to say.
Debbie, It’s with great interest I read your story. Like yourself, I found my ‘ tragedy ‘ a great never ending experience.
I graduated from college in ’70 and had a car -train ‘experience ‘ in ’72. I remember during the three months in the hospital thinking that ‘ this is the best thing that could happen to me ‘, with no clue of reasoning. I had a severe studder from a head injury from being throw out of car and bouncing of my head, no other injuries, but this left my left side paralyzed.
No Problem, I was walking leaving the hospital, but maintained the studder. But I found that if I recited prose or poetry or sang, I didn’t studder at all, ie :Mel Tillose ( sp?) a famous singer from the 60′s thru 80′s. So I just practice reciting out loud or singing (I did lead vocal in 3 bands in the 60′s.
The joke continued on me as in 2001 after working for Oregon DOT for 17 years, I was declared disabled because of my memory problems. Wonderful, at 56, I got to retire with social security and while I was only working as a tech., I was making 10 % more after ‘retiring ‘ than before.
After leading my entire life since college as a renter, 4 years ago, I found I was qualified to by a condo in a serior citizen section of Portland , OR.
I’m far from wealthy, have a 13 year old car ( only 137,000 miles ), I find myself living amounst my peers. Gee, I wonder, what will happen next ? I’ve never been married, that could be an interesting option .
Roberthanson21@commcast.net
Debbie, It’s with great interest I read your story. Like yourself, I found my ‘ tragedy ‘ a great never ending experience.
I graduated from college in ’70 and had a car -train ‘experience ‘ in ’72. I remember during the three months in the hospital thinking that ‘ this is the best thing that could happen to me ‘, with no clue of reasoning. I had a severe studder from a head injury from being throw out of car and bouncing of my head, no other injuries, but this left my left side paralyzed.
No Problem, I was walking leaving the hospital, but maintained the studder. But I found that if I recited prose or poetry or sang, I didn’t studder at all, ie :Mel Tillose ( sp?) a famous singer from the 60′s thru 80′s. So I just practice reciting out loud or singing (I did lead vocal in 3 bands in the 60′s.
The joke continued on me as in 2001 after working for Oregon DOT for 17 years, I was declared disabled because of my memory problems. Wonderful, at 56, I got to retire with social security and while I was only working as a tech., I was making 10 % more after ‘retiring ‘ than before.
After leading my entire life since college as a renter, 4 years ago, I found I was qualified to by a condo in a serior citizen section of Portland , OR.
I’m far from wealthy, have a 13 year old car ( only 137,000 miles ), I find myself living amounst my peers. Gee, I wonder, what will happen next ? I’ve never been married, that could be an interesting option .
Roberthanson21@commcast.net
Gee, Robert, I wish I were you/ What, I am ? Well, doesn’t that beat all with a stick
Funny!
Robert, it is uncanny to me how what I would usually view as not good can and usually does turn out to benefit me somewhere down the road if I am just patient and open enough. This has taught me never to judge anything as good or bad…just accept it…and allow everything to unfold. My job is to see the good in whatever comes my way and to take what I am given and make it work the best it can for me. There is the challenge. You are right, you just never know what is around the corner. Makes it all kind of fun and interesting to me.
BTW – my car has 118,000 something miles on it and it is 10 years old and running well and paid off….so I just keep on driving it!
Hi Debbie,
Your pages and comments are a real life-line for me for lots of reasons, not least of which your own experience with depression and how you are surviving and thriving!
I have a history of depression, as well as recovery from a near fatal accident. I’m trying so hard to change my thinking, so, so hard, and I’m practising self-compassion. But today is a tough one….even in the gorgeous sunshine of Oz where I relocated 8 months ago, the darkness is ebbing around my ankles and the Black Dog is ready to jump on my chest – again. Today I’m really, really struggling to keep the mind set positive, staying in the present and letting myself just feel the emotion without judging. Difficult not to feel I’m losing though.
So….can I just ask for some advice here? How do you do it? How to keep on keeping on and going forward? Insights gratefully received lovely, inspirational lady!!
Fi, my first thought is to tell you to quit “trying.” Quit trying to positive. Quit running from and trying to elude the darkness. Turn around and face it. Go into it. Allow yourself to give in to it and feel it. ….and know that you will survive it and that you will not stay there. You will move through it, but only by allowing yourself to step in the darkenss at your ankles and let the black dog take a nap on your chest do you make friends with it. Have compassion for yourself in that you do not judge yourself for feeling these feelings. They are not bad. It your thinking they are that makes them so. What if you changed your attitude towards them? Allow yourself to go into them, feel them fully, be curious and aware with them. Introspectively figure out what is behind them and what they have to teach you. Whatever it is just is…it is not good or bad. It just is.
If you do not meditate. Start. Start by just sitting quietly and focusing on your breath for five minutes. Be aware of your physical sensations. What do you feel in your body. What do you feel emotionally? How do the two correlate? What is at the base of the emotions? What images do you see, feel, remember in your mind’s eye? Only when you face the darkness and go into it and move through it can you learn from it and not fear it any more. It is there to tell you something. Go into it and find out what it has to teach you. I am not saying to wallow in self pity and depression. I am saying to allow your self to really feel the emotions you are trying to push away. By doing so, you can learn a lot about yourself and the source of these feelings. Also by doing so, the darkness loses its power over you. You do not have to run from it and avoid it because you know how to learn from it and move through it. The point is not to NOT feel the feelings and to feel positive all the time. The point is to accept yourself and all of your feelings, and to see what they have to teach you and to move through them.
Allow yourself adequate time to really feel the dark feelings, BUT do not stay there! Then, start using tools like thought reframing, affirmations, Abraham Hicks substituting a higher vibrational thought, meditation and visualization to move through them. I have done blogs on most of these things or Google them. Also, get some exercise, lots of water, lots of good healthy, brain food, and some good sleep. Start reading Pema Chodron.
It is partly a decision. A decision not that you are not going to feel the dark feelings, but a decision that you ARE going to do what is necessary to make friends with them, learn from them, make your brain and life better. It is all a spectrum. If it was not for these feelings we would not know joy. Also, I found that by allowing myself to fully feel the darkness, I felt joy and peace and love fully for the first time. It is all part of it.
Get mad, dammit. You CAN change your brain and life. If I did, anyone can! What would you say to a friend in your condition? How would you feel towards her? Extend the same grace and compassion to yourself. Be patient. Be persistent. You owe this to yourself! Blessings to you.
A couple of blogs that come to mind that might be helpful:
http://www.thebestbrainpossible.com/if-you-like-where-you-are-you-cant-complain-about-how-you-got-there
http://www.thebestbrainpossible.com/incomplete-compassion
Debbie,
I can barely see through the tears to reply, but I need to do it, and tell you it is with a smile on my face as I do
Thank you so very much for your thoughts….the kindness of strangers, eh?
The really, really, positive and helpful thing about what you say is that I can see in the mirror of your words a reflection of the REAL person behind my darkness. The one in my heart, the one I’ve always known is there. If This wasn’t the case, then I would have succumbed, well, years ago I guess. Why haven’t I? Because somewhere, deep down in amongst all the rubbish and pain and self – loathing, I think I’ve always known a loving, kind, compassionate self was quietly waiting for me to find her.
I’ve been meditating for about 6 months now…I’ve loved Pema for a while, and have been following my Buddhist path for a couple of years, having found that monotheism wasn’t offering me anything for the life I still have NOW….I’ve been reading and re-framing for ages. But it’s only since I relocated that I’ve been pared down to the essential me I suppose. Away from all the distractions of the familiar old life I have been forced to turn and look inside and do all the things you have talked about. Here there is only me………and it’s terrifying, but I also know that if I don’t face things and look into the abyss properly, then the BD will always be an enormous monster, instead of a helpful companion.
Yes, you are quite right….It’s truly time to act and stop playing my avoiding word games….to dish out a little (hell, no A LOT) of my famous compassion and love to myself for a change. I am going to print off your reply and keep it with me as a talisman, ‘cos that’s exactly what it feels like, as well as a lifeline.
I will keep you posted, if you’d like me to?
Thank you form my heart, my lovely, loving, friend! Namaste x
Fi, I think back to the people who made a profound difference in my recovery, and, surprisingly, it was sometimes people who came into my life very briefly. I am so glad to have helped you. But, I have to confess that I still think “Who the hell am I to be giving advice?” But then again, why not me? I can only share with you what worked for me. For myself, the answer was not in a pill, a therapist, or a program. The answer was in me. It was there all along and I did not know it. I think it is in you too. You have to get down right mad and let that be your motivation. I just knew that, if I had to live, and apparently I wasn’t going to die, that I was not going to live a sad, sorry, depressed life…half retarded at that!. I wanted more for myself. You have to get to the point where you do too and are willing to do whatever it takes. It is investing in you. The best investment you will ever make..
Your happiness and mental health is more important than a job, a relationship or anything else. For it is the basis for everything else. Get yourself well and all else will flow. No, my life is not perfect by traditional standards, but who cares? I am the happiest I have ever been. The happiness comes from within me. Everyday. It is a choice. It is a process. I mean years, but it is worth it. You are worth it. You are creating your future in every decision and minute of today. Decide that it is going to be good because you are going to make it that way and make it happen in every day in everything you do. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.
You sound like you know the tools. Use them every day. Create the life you want in every minute of today by your actions and how you use your time. This does not mean that you are going to be happy and everything is going to be great over night. I have been alone now going on 5 years. No kids… I lost custody and they live in another state with thier Dad. No relationship. Was hard at first, but now and over the last year, I am at the point where I do not want one. I am not finished working on me yet. I want to put my energy in myself still …creating myself and my life. My life, by most stadards, looks pretty dismal, but I am the happiest I have ever been and at peace. The best thing is that it is not dependant on anything or anybody else. So, I always have it. I really do not even feel the darkness anymore ever. You can get there too, but it takes lots of work ….investing in yourself…and time. You are worth it and your life is worth it.
Please do keep me updated at my personal email dbird1@triad.rr.com…so it is not public. Love and light to you.
Debbie, I’ve been skimming your site (just encountered it tonight) … and what stands out most is the question you sometimes still ask yourself: “Who the hell am I to be giving advice?” That rings a bell! … and my intuitive response is that those of us who dare to show our whole selves are experiential experts … There is indisputable wisdom in having survived great injury / illness, and revealing the raw truths of it in relation with others. There will always be other people who respond to such integrity, who ‘get’ it … Your thoughts are refreshing — no ‘quick fixes’ here … *and* so many repetitions of the truth that we choose from moment to moment how we will underscore our experience with our perceptions, thoughts, and beliefs … and yes, it’s long, deep work. I’ve been at it over 30 years, and the work never ends. Neither does the play
Thank you …
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Jaliya, thank you for your kind words and for stopping by and commenting. You are so right. I often think this is incredibly ironic: the crazy lady giving mental health advice. Whaaat?? That is precisely the point. I WAS the crazy lady. I want to share with others how I healed and found happiness. If I can do it, anyone can. And, yes, the work never ends….or the fun! It is a way of life, huh?
Hi Debbie:
It is SO encouraging to read about another person who suffered a TBI who is thriving and is open to trying therapies that are outside the box that can really help. I am a mom of a 15yr old awesome teenage boy who is still recovering from his TBI. Right now, he is unable to attend school and is tutored at home. He has learned so much in the last year about how to tune in to his body – he has had Low Energy Neurofeedback (from a neuropsychologist who is a TBI survivor herself). He has participated in Reiki, cranio-sacral treatments, and accupuncture as well. As he recovers, I am excited to see how this very difficult journey will shape him into the man he is destined to become – he will be very empathetic, that is for sure. Thank you for your blog. Please take a minute to check out my “Nourish Your Noggin” facebook page. I look forward to reading more from you. I wish you a strong, full recovery.
Tina, thank you for commenting and your encouraging words. Please continue to tenaciously search out and try alternative therapies for your son. As you say, it will most definitely shape him. I consider my injury a blessing in disguise now.
Every injury is unique and what works for one might not for another. I did LENS and it was not that healing for me. What was incredibly, amazingly beneficial was Brain Wave Optimization. Read more about it http://brainstatetech.com/# I think it is the next evolution of neurofeedback. I did it after a year and a half of traditional neurofeedback. It was sooo much faster and more healing.
I tried to find your facebook page with no luck. Can you give me a link?
Blessings.
Hi Debbie:
)
Thanks for your quick reply. I will definitely check that link out. Right now, we are waiting for an additional MRI and MRA to determine if some of his symptoms are from intracranial pressure because he has many symptoms that correlate.
As a Integrative Health & Nutrition Coach, I totally get looking into proactive, alternative steps that have no additional side effects and I believe that, like you, I am to be a light in the darkness of ABI to share our story and our journey as well as my knowledge in my field. Looking forward to staying in touch with you. (Any prayers for my son would be greatly appreciated,
Here is my Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nourish-Your-Noggin/149102695149076?ref=tn_tnmn
You are such an inspiration at a transitional time in my life, and I love your website! Thank you for sharing all this information and your personal experience. Most of this is totally new to me, but I want to know more. If this is not improper to ask, may I have a copy of the picture associated with the following saying on your April 2nd post: “The greatest discovery of my life is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.” – William James. The colors are so amazing and bring me joy just to look at them. If this is not possible, it is okay. I have just begun to study your website and cannot wait to delve further into all the possibilies. Thank you again, and blessings.
Thank you much for your kind words! I have remarkably changed my life for the better with the tools and techniques I share and talk about on here. I want others to know! It really is simple, but challenging at the same time.
As far as the picture of the beautiful colors. It is just a digital picture which I found online that you can save and print out for yourself. Right click on the image and click on “save image as.” Be sure and notice where your computer saves it or tell it specifically where you want it to put it. Then go into that folder and print it. Mine saves images in a “downloads” folder which I get to by clicking on the Windows icon in the lower left hand corner of my main screen. Good luck!
Debbie, I just found your blog over the weekend and felt like I hit the jackpot. You have taken your suffering, your learning, your recovery, and your growth and shared them with the world in a very authentic way. What an inspiration you are! Working on changing my perspective in order to change my attitudes. People like you are my inspiration and send a message of hope the world. You should write a book to testify of your recovery and tell the world all you learned. Great website!
Tiffani, thank you so, so much for your encouragement and kind words and yes, yes, yes you can change your life just by changing your attitudes and perspectives. While I would never do anything to bring this upon me again, the suicide attempt and brain injury have been a blessing in disguise. It is funny how something that could be seen as tragic, has given me purpose and happiness. I was just damned determined that “This is not the way this story is going to end!” It just proves to me even more that it never is about what happens in life, it is about how you respond to it and what you do with it.
I have written a book. I just got the manuscript edit back and am diving into the edits….boy! do I have my work cut out for me! Let’s just hope that I can get an agent and publisher when I am finished!
Hi, I have been following your facebook page for a few months now and did not know who the person behind it was. I had only now read the website and to my amazement come across a person who has gone through pretty much exactly what I have.
I sustained a hypoxic brain injury in Feb of 2011 due to an accidental drug overdose. Initially the specialists did not know the extent of the damage and therefore the extent of the residual deficit, as they called it, but after two months in hospital, a lot of physio etc I have made a remarkable recovery. I still have very similar issues as you have, namely speech and fine motor function, but I am of the belief that they will improve also in time. I also have had a battle with chronic depression for many years.
I am keen to learn more and find this website extremely informative and supportive. Please keep up the good work and I am keen to follow your progress as a kin of sorts
Emile, thank you for your kind words. My brain injury/suicide attempt has actually been a blessing in disguise. It has given me purpose, determination, and taught me that I am strong, smart and resilient…even with a brain injury! I hope that you can use your accident for good in your life in much the same way.
I am 5 years post brain injury, and, while the brain does keep healing for years, I can tell you that I plateaued and do not believe I would have reached the level of rehabilitation I have without doing the many alternative therapies (some I still do) and practices to encourage neuroplastic change in my brain. Diet, supplements, water, sleep and exercise are going to be SOOOO important to your brain healing and improving. I hope that you find the information on my website helpful. The earlier posts, when I was still healing, are going to deal more on these issues.
I implore you to never stop trying to better your brain and coming up with your own “therapy” in your life to better any residual challenges. Blessings to you!
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