Depression after a TBI

Brain Injury Blog by  Dr. William Jarvis

April 6, 2012

Depression after a TBI

It was Norman Vincent Peale who said, “Change your thoughts and you can change your world”. There is a positive thought for every negative thought. It can be true for anyone with a traumatic brain injury. If a person can change his thoughts about his illness and realize that what he thinks is not necessarily an absolute, he will maintain a healthy attitude. This will have a positive effect on possible healing. Also, there is a psychological benefit. If a person can change his thoughts about his injury, a person will change the world he lives in.

There is a Cognitive Therapy theory called: Automatic Thought, Distorted Thought, and Rational Thought. Every person has automatic thoughts when going through a difficult time, thinking about the specifics of the problem and possible consequences (sometimes distorted). For every bad or distorted thought you have, there is a rational thought; that is, a thought that brings focus to a more common sense thinking about the problem.

Depression is very prevalent after a TBI. Here is an example of how changing thinking would work: In a specific circumstance, an automatic thought would be “I can’t walk.” A distorted thought would be “I’ll never walk again.” A rational thought is “With effort and consistency in therapy, I may walk again. I don’t know now for sure.” In Cognitive Therapy this is called a Distortion by trying to predict the future. Changing how a person thinks gives a common sense assessment of the situation and at the same time instills hope for the future.