Anxiety Issue after Severe Brain Injury More Than Mood

Anxiety Issue after Severe Brain Injury: Zach Part Thirty Two 

In this part we talk about some mood issues including depression and an anxiety issue after severe brain injury.  Zach states that he has more problems with the anxiety issue after severe brain injury than anything.

Do you have problems with depression?

No.  Not anymore.

When did you have problems with depression?

When I started drinking in college and –

That period after you broke up with her?

Yep, yeah. Well, actually that whole summer I was with her – I was depressed and then I broke up with her and then it ended with that, so.

And since that period you fell down the stairs, have you had significant problems with depression?

No

What about sadness?

Sadness?  No.  I get anxious, really anxious, you know?

Anxiety Issue after Severe Brain Injury

Talk to me about the anxiety issue after severe brain injury.

I just, there’s so much I want to do with my life.  I want to this, want to do that. I want to be a movie star – I want to be a baseball player.   But now I can’t be a baseball player, so now I want to be a football player but I can’t be a football player.  So now I want to do this, I want to do that, I want to live here, I want to live there.  So, it’s like, there’s just so much I want to do.

But I’m so young that it’s okay to do think like that but I shouldn’t be like, I mean do the math, you know.

How is that different from your friends?

I don’t know.  They probably think that too but I don’t know, to me they don’t portray themselves that way so I never see it.

How much do you get out and take time to be social, to be with other people and to hang out?

I do do it. I do it a lot.  I have a good group of friends here and I do like to, I love to go out and go dancing at a club or something.  That’s like that’s my favorite times.  But, it’s going to get me in trouble or something. I’m always going in a bar and then someone wants to fight me. I’ll do something to annoy them, but no big deal.  So, I’ll just stay here and really just watch movies by myself.  I mean it’s nice to have somebody come over and watch it with me, but.

So, even though you really like going to a club, you don’t do it very often?

There’s not a lot of places to go around here.  (There is this one place) I try to go. This is the only place I’ve really tried to go to every weekend but it doesn’t happen a lot.

Do you have, do you have trouble with the noise and the lights besides the anxiety issue after severe brain injury?

Nope.  Not at all.

How’s your patience with your anxiety issue after severe brain injury?

Patience?  My patience is really good.  My patience is really good for people.  Like, I have a lot of patience for people.  Like, a lot of people will like, if somebody cuts them off in traffic, oh my God, I.  They freak out.  But, like me, I’m just like ah it’s no big deal.  You don’t know maybe that person’s going through something right now.

Are you more laid back than you were before you got hurt?

No.  I was pretty laid back all the time.  Yeah.

Except when you were playing baseball.

Yeah except when I – I miss, I miss it so much but yeah.

To view:

Wait for the end of that video, the silence at the end. It says a lot.

Next in Part Thirty Three –

Food is the Toughest Decision After TBI