Hi again,
I like to remain calm most of the time although sometimes others frustrate me. I would prefer to just communicate via email as then this method would give me plenty of time before responding.
Does this make sense to others?. Or can some relate to this. Do others deal with it different?.
I now go circuit training at the gym like 2 days on one day off cycle. This might be why I felt frustrated.
I am calm now as done some meditation.
Danielle,
You express, âI would prefer to just communicate via email as then this method would give me plenty of time before responding.â I agree as verbal communication humiliates me. If my communication becomes involved and complex I become high-strung. My nervous system turns into a high pitch, I start sweating, and then I cannot repress unconscious impulses. When nothing is clear or certain, my anxiety increases and also my aggression will increase. I become fearful to the degree I feel unsupported, which then triggers off unconscious impulses from childhood abuse. Also when I cannot maintain my identity in verbal conversation I become cynical about the value of relating to anyone.
Fear seems to make my mental connections go haywire, probably because it makes my mind delusional. When I feel this raw material it makes me feel I am missing out on many important aspects of life, especially relationships. This can make me feel utterly and permanently defective, which I will convince myself others regard me the same. So for me, I need to let go of my fear of failure and being humiliated. I am also letting go of feeling shameful and misunderstood, feeling people always let me down, and feeling inadequate and defective.
I have had to isolate, withdraw, which also turns my anger and aggression against myself. However, I have learned being âtoldâ who I am not is learning to let go. I have had to learn to use this withdraw as an opening and to let go of my emotional issues. My letting go now feels like my failures are less a measure of my defectiveness than just pain crying out through the distorted mask of my rage. Letting go seems to be an opening and appears to allow something more essential touch this wounded self. Healing just becomes this place to begin, nothing more and nothing less, and the light of awareness unfolds, just like your meditation should be offering you.
Thank you for your presence Danielle and learning to observe yourself without judgement.
A sense of relief in a way that I donât be like this. I hope one day it will get better for us both.
I do understand and can relate to this all too well in fact. I have a tendency to be âtoo honestâ or âtoo directâ and I often offend without even trying. As a child I remember being told âBe honestâ and yet when I was honest I would often be told âPeople donât want to hear THATâ jeez that was so confusing. Often honesty was very candid and direct, so I had to learn a reserved honesty. Is that an oxymoron? Or is a reserved honesty more a respectful honesty. Either way, itâs still damn confusing.
Now, I âtryâ to be a bit more reserved but I find I have to think about what I am saying before I say it. Some people get a bit annoyed with the time it takes me to think about my answers because if I say exactly what comes to mind in that instant moment I am guaranteed to offend. In my own mind often my initial answers are full of expletives, often along the lines of âWTFâ and on the occasions where I have not been given the time to analyse my answers âWTFâ has been said and not as an abbreviation but more in full blown astonishment. So yes, I can understand why you would like to communicate via email, but this is not always possible, especially in conversation and I know for myself this is a real struggle. Trying to balance my speech content verses my thoughts used to be easy, I had an inbuilt filter (well, sort of 
) but now I really have to concentrate on my content, think about what Iâm going to say. In some situations I now get tend to get a little overwhelmed and this has lead to my emotions taking over.
Others may not like the fact that I need time, hell, I donât like it either. But this is now my reality, so others have to deal with it, just as I do.
Merl
It sounds like me when you write.
What you said makes sense. My life got a lot more frustrating, but I wonât list all the things unless you want to get so bored that you fall asleep. It is normal, the brain injury is inherently frustrating: you want to do things that your brain may or may not cooperate at that moment. It is beyond frustrating sometimes.
Maybe write down âhow you want things to beâ. Things that would make life easier. And then look at everything you do and brainstorm ways to make it easier. Hope this doesnât sound matter-of-fact. For me it wasnât obvious. Imagine that it is a friend telling you âI wantâŚâ and then give them advice. It is always easier to give others advice.
It might not be realistic for others to understand. Despite their honestly best intentions, they probably cannot understand. And this leads to great frustration and stress. So, maybe sometimes keep it private. As much as it sucks not to share it with people who care, sometimes it causes more trouble then it is worth. That is one reason the fellowship is here: you donât have to explain everything from scratch.
Unfortunately life does not exist only by email. If you have coverage I would suggest that you see a speech theripist. Yes I have myself but she could not come up with more coping techniques then I already have developed. Inspite of my TBI I was involved in student govennment in college on term as ASB Science Department rep, two terms as ASB Activities Director and one as ASB vise president. Now days I am involved with Fire Prevention services and two cabin tract boards. After you see the speech therapist I would suggest a public speaking course at your local community college. You will be surprised at how much better it will make you feel being able to better communicate.
Thank you for your advice, I currently feel at peace where others donât get to me.
Iâm the same way. My speech is not good (an understatement) so my preferred method is instant message, but life does not operate on instant messaging, or e-mail, so oral communication is important in daily life. Telephones are often harder for me than face-to-face, so calls to peiople who arenât familiar with my handicaps are handled by my guardian. E-mail is good, but not instant or even fast whereas verbal is.
I understand Karyn totally.
WoW, Iâve just spent the last 45minutes reading all these responses about how to deal with frustration. Iâve been living mine (Tbi) for 40years, and I remember those times of getting frustrated and lashing out because I couldnât function as I once did. And then one day I noticed a very small subtle improvement. I was again able to do something that I use to be able to do. All these outbursts and aggressive behavior that Iâve seen described here, are part of the healing as our brain continues to ReWire itself and function once again. I found myself resting when I needed to, and eating all kinds of veggies that are known to help the brain. After this many years I feel that I mustâve been correct about some of it