Episode 28. The “Kicked Off the Bench / Swamp / Moving Through a Swamp / Boat / Getting Pulled Behind a Boat” - Analogy. Second Discussion With David

This discussion with David gets into a lot of good brain injury concepts. The flow of analogies touch on many aspects of brain injury that I will explain and give examples with the hope that it can help the people around brain injured people learn more about what we are dealing with. "Getting kicked Off the Bench"- David explains how when he is slow to answer or pausing to “process” he is also fighting against his memory and attention problems, people just cut him off, it’s like kicking him off the bench. I have spoken to many brain injured people about this type of interuption. If we are processing, if we are trying to do something, let that brain injured person take the time they need, they will make mistakes, or get frustrated, or confused, they may behave in a way that doesn’t make sense or seems lazy and slow, but that’s all part of the relearning process. How else can a person work on their problems?Next analogy, "The Swamp" - The swam can represent a number of things. When your brain injury problems are taking over and you cannot function, meaning you cannot function o you are stuck. Like in a swamp.“Moving Through A Swamp” - Is a great analogy for how slow mental processing becomes with a brain injury. What was once automatic feels like thick sludge. This can apply to thought, to actual movement, to speech, to processing of ideas, and different senses like sounds, reading, also memory. There are many forms of this moving through a swamp feeling. Moving in a swamp takes more energy as well."The boat of life"is like the sum of your life efforts, goals, and abilities. Most people before brain injury are least somewhat productive but once you get brain injured that boat of life is gone, you can no longer navigate or function in the same ways.The more fortunate people I have met have enough support and spent enough years with either the right treatment plans to work to improve or they figured out how to work on their problems on their own for many years, and they got a new boat of life back. Some examples include these discussions:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/experiencing-my-brain-episode-24-a-seventeen-year/id1596998070?i=1000660119506https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/experiencing-my-brain-episode-16-is-there-a-recipe/id1596998070?i=1000597492989https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/experiencing-my-brain-episode-19-put-the-music-in/id1596998070?i=1000610829608Another analogy, "Getting Pulled Behind A Boat", that is when the right supports allows you to be comfortable enough and pulled through life. This type of situation is very hard and requires great support. It is difficult on caregivers and loved ones around the brain injured person. Those who are doing the support would benefit from learning more about what each brain injured person’s specific problems are. That would help provide the right help.The flip side are people with no support. They are not getting pulled behind a boat, in fact their is no  boat. No supports and help exist. There are multiple examples of this lack of support in this podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/experiencing-my-brain-episode-25-thrown-away-after/id1596998070?i=1000663893719Last analogy, "the rope" is any form of “help,” “support,” “connection,” that gives you an ability to keep going, it lessons the burdens of brain injured life, or provides you with some constant needs being met, or help for a brain injury problem. The rope is some form of support. Connecting with other brain injured people in a support groups to validate what you are dealing with is one form of the rope that David brings up. In episode 8 of this podcast titled “Loss of Self With Brain Injury”. Randy reads a passage that gets into many of the same themes as the flow of analogies in this episode.https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/experiencing-my-brain-episode-8-loss-of-self-with/id1596998070?i=1000551137509