{"id":1369,"date":"2014-12-02T08:27:30","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T15:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/?p=1369"},"modified":"2016-10-19T14:31:32","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T20:31:32","slug":"holiday-challenges-with-a-brain-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/?p=1369","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Challenges With a Brain Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Linda W. Arms, November 5, 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

We are now in the middle of the holiday season which can challenge those of us with an injured brain.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0It is a time when so much more is expected of us than most other times of the year. \u00a0 \u00a0We along with our loved ones, friends and caregivers should all remember that it\u2019s best to simplify so we can enjoy things more. \u00a0 \u00a0 It’s been nearly 9\u00a0years since my brain injury and I’m doing much better\u00a0but\u00a0I have to remind myself to keep things\u00a0simple instead of doing \u00a0all the things I “should” do, or the things I did before my injury.<\/p>\n

This season brings so many more demands on our brain.\u00a0 \u00a0We have to do a lot of extra things such as buying gifts, putting up decorations, doing more cooking and interacting with more people at social events.\u00a0\u00a0 We have to maneuver around very busy stores, and the entire holiday hubbub on the roads and parking lots.\u00a0\u00a0 The holidays can also be an emotional time because we might think back to our past selves when we could do so much more. \u00a0 We might feel our loss even more and feel that familiar grief.<\/p>\n

Brain injury survivors and caregivers should take extra care during this time for rest, finding quiet spaces and doing less of what is expected during the holidays. \u00a0\u00a0Those of us with a brain injury probably are much more settled and can enjoy this time better if we don\u2019t have ALL those decorations, especially flashing or moving lights all around us.\u00a0\u00a0 They are overwhelming for our poor brains to process\u00a0and contribute to sensory overload. \u00a0\u00a0Plus its a lot of work to put up so many decorations and take them back down. \u00a0I put up just a few decorations and I can feel a strange anxiety of having those extra things to look at as I process my surroundings.<\/p>\n

You also need to learn to say no to some things.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve turned down large family get-togethers in these past years because of all the challenges of interacting, a lot of noise and making your way through the groups of people.\u00a0\u00a0 And then, of course, we have to remember that when we over-do-it one day we have to pay for it the next.<\/p>\n

Ask for help. \u00a0 Instead of doing most of the cooking for a special meal, make it pot luck. \u00a0 Everyone contributes a dish or two. \u00a0 Instead of running to a lot of stores for gifts, buy online. \u00a0 Reduce the amount of gift giving. \u00a0 Many people are happy to opt out of gift exchanges or to cut back from earlier years.<\/p>\n

Simplify the decorations, the gift giving, the meals and everything else that is part of the holiday season.\u00a0\u00a0 Find ways to enjoy the holidays with quieter moments.\u00a0\u00a0 Keep it simple and you\u2019ll enjoy it more. \u00a0 \u00a0 And remember More is Not Better<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Glowing<\/a><\/p>\n

LIKE THE BRAIN FAIRY ON FACEBOOK<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

SEND EMAIL TO\u00a0LINDA ARMS<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Linda W. Arms, November 5, 2013 We are now in the middle of the holiday season which can challenge those of us with an injured brain.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0It is a time when so much more is expected of us than most other times of the year. \u00a0 \u00a0We along with our loved ones, friends and caregivers should all remember that it\u2019s best to simplify so we can enjoy things more. \u00a0 \u00a0 It’s been nearly 9\u00a0years since my brain injury… Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[15,17,31,9,46,22,13,30,23,43,29,10,51,21,45,37,32,39,42,16,8,33],"class_list":["post-1369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abi","tag-brain-aneurysm","tag-brain-fog","tag-brain-injury","tag-brain-injury-support","tag-brain-tumor","tag-caregiver","tag-caretaker","tag-cognitive-difficulties","tag-cognitive-overload","tag-cognitively-challenged","tag-concussion","tag-cooking-after-a-brain-injury","tag-driving-and-brain-injury","tag-head-injury","tag-life-after-brain-injury","tag-living-with-brain-injury","tag-sensory-overload","tag-socializing-after-brain-injury","tag-stroke","tag-tbi","tag-visual-problems-after-brain-injury"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2GcQn-m5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1369"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1485,"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1369\/revisions\/1485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebrainfairy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}