Flooding and the Injured Brain

Zorinsky Lake, Omaha, Nebraska

“Some days you will feel like the ocean. Some days you will feel like you are drowning in it.”

—Lora Mathis

Too Much of a Good Thing

We need water. We can’t live without it. But the rising waters and devastation across Nebraska and Iowa are reminders that too much of anything is destructive. The melting snow and heavy rains are too much for the still-frozen ground to absorb at once. People have to put their lives on hold and focus on recovery from the overwhelming floods. This is much like a brain injury. When it occurs, all life as we know it stops and everything becomes about recovery.

Saturation Point

Just as the land can not take in all the water, sometimes our brains can not absorb all the stimuli. The injured brain is so busy focusing all its energy on healing that it doesn’t have much reserve for screening. Much like the frozen ground that can not absorb the early spring rains and melting snow all at once, the broken brain reaches its saturation point too soon. Conversations, background music, and effort to concentrate on just one thing all converge at once and our brain becomes flooded. When this occurs, we are unable to think straight and often head pain and neuro-fatigue set in. To our loved ones and those around us we look normal one minute and the next we are falling apart. For some, flooding manifests in rages and in others it appears as a complete shut-down.

I was about three years into my concussion recovery before I heard the term flooding associated with brain injury. Labeling the experience was somehow soothing. All I knew was that sometimes I just felt completely overwhelmed in situations - normal situations that normal people can handle.

Flash Flood Alert

Weddings, committee meetings, lively family dinners are all part of my normal life that I love, but also are all danger zones. I am on constant flash flood alert. I am grateful that the flooding happens far less frequently now and recovery is much quicker. But my brain reminds me to stay mindful and aware. (If you are in the stage of recovery where flooding occurs daily, please know that it will not always be this hard. The floods come less frequently eventually.) Just like flood recovery, brain injury healing is daunting and seemingly endless. But recovery comes. Believe!

Peace,

Sharon

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. You can find more information at www.biane.org