"I forgot..." - The Frustration of Forgetting after Brain Injury!

Hello I am Simon. I am a Severe TBI Survivor as of 12-12-2019. I got hit by a car as a pedestrian. I just viewed this memory TBI video and do forget things of simplicity usually at work of forgetting what i go into the office for or even forgetting where i placed the work keys and losing them. With that major anxiety occurs for me. I do the sticky notes as reminders. My supervisor and friend (2 different people) at work has given me examples of things ive done in the past but i forget. Post TBI memory loss occurs. I have subscribed to your channel for the brain injury videos i will watch. 🎉

I keep trying to explain to my family that I’m not crazy, I just have had such a difficult time remembering things since my brain injury three years ago. I feel like I am losing my mind sometimes because I am capable of forgetting something if I don’t write it down or put it in my phone right away within a matter of a few seconds, it’s hard. I wish there was support groups for brain injury patients so I wouldn’t feel so alone.

TBI survivor of 4 years now, things with my memory and outlook are getting worse, its so frightening and difficult to carry on each day with no memory of the day (or hours) before. I really appreciate this and sharing, and it helps.

I have learned that repetition has helped me. If I am told something to remember, I may try to repeat it to myself maybe three times. It is also very helpful writing thing down. Especially if it is a todo list!

Thank you. In my life it is hard to find people who understand

Thank you for making a video I can share! The feelings of isolation are overwhelming and sometimes it really takes that friend who KEEPS texting, KEEPS calling, KEEPS encouraging to help us move forward in recovery. Social connections are listed as one of the top needs for successful recovery. We are often too exhausted or overwhelmed to answer ... perhaps for days... and naturally by then, we've COMPLETELY forgotten about any text or message received! I hope your recovery has continued to progress! Cyber Hugs from a fellow survivor!

Thank You! Car accident 2 months ago - TBI older Veteran with PTSD and other things, WoW what a change. I lose it while having a simple talk, I just forgot what we were talking about. Write it down is a must to keep track of things to do. I think this is going to be a long term thing for me. Once again Thank You for the smile you put on my face while I watched your video. Words of wisdom from a smart person!

Thank you! I am going use this to help explain me to my daughter. I have had a brain injury for over 30 years. Everyone gets mad at me for forgetting. I get mad at myself for forgetting words in the middle of a conversation. I actually made it through Nursing school, but my brain won't let me pronounce medications right and I feel stupid. I look forward to hearing more from you and thanks again!

Thats me. I do get fed up with people telling me thats not so bad everyone forgets things. They do not understand the extent.

Thank you. I forget every day. TBI is an unseen severe disability. Thank you for speaking up.

Hi I am Janaye, I also had a brain injury and it is so hard. You totally hit the nail on the head with what you said. I've never known anyone that understood. Would be so cool if we could talk. My service dog has a channel too, to bring awareness on service dogs and the things he can do.

I completely understand what you're saying. I struggle with short term memory loss a lot. One minute I'll remember then a few seconds go by and I don't remember anymore. It's that bad. My short term memory loss is due to a mild concussion I had in an auto accident. The air bag cover hit me in the forehead. I can clock in at work and then a second go by and I won't even remember if I clocked in or not. Sometimes I can get the milk out of the fridge, then start to put it in the cabinet. It really does suck not being able to remember things. Feels like my memory has gotten a lot worse over the years.

Omg i just CANNOT thankyou enough. I sugfered a TBI 16 Yrs ago friday 13th July 2007. As a reult of a hit n run accident, where i was the pedestrian!. I feel like a child again.. my memory is largely effected, my hightened sensations have been so problematic. I can not listen to more than one person talking at once fo instance is a huge one. I get really agitated and frustrated with myself and then i appear rude. Nobody seems to believe me any time i would mention my TBI 😥 People seem to think im just "making it up" and often hear esp from certain ppl, just "get over it" " theres nothing wrong with you" 😭😭😭😭 i wish 🤐 believe me 🥺🙄😔 thankyou so much, this way i could show my partner this video and now i think he understands me alot more, from the bottom of my heart HUGE THANKYOU TO YOU FOR THIS VID!!!! 😘😘😘😘

Forgetting where I put stuff is a huge problem for me following my brain injury.. I use a number of lists and notes but sometimes forget to look at them. At four years I am forcing myself to do food shopping without a list and unless I am interrupted it works. I also ask myself what I had on my last meal or yesterday. I am learning to pull the memory out by tying relationships or associations. Just today I forgot an important event which was remembered in a conversation with a cashier at Wall Mart. Conversations with others really help.

I had a alot of memory loss after my brain injury. The tbi excerbated all my senses making everything hard to do because it made everything need me to put more effort which made me take more time to do things that made me, me. I still get overloaded and overstimulated. I cant handle being on busy roads or even driving no more than 30 miles an hour or having someone else drive no more than 30 miles an hour. It's hard to want to even talk to people or move my fingers to text or even hold a conversation. I cant stand people talking loud or being around lots of people. Even 1 or 2 can be very hard at times. I'm completely a different person after my fall. I was introverted before but I'm severely introverted now and people think I want them to leave me alone or to not talk or help me but they dont understand how a traumatic brain injury can affect you. I would have to say that we take advantage of our brain and its filters because I even feel how the light can feel like its burning me but it ends up drying my skin out severely at times and makes me itchy. I literally changed everything I do even the foods I eat to help me cope better and live healthier than I have ever have in my life due to this tbi. Having a video that talks about how a person feels with a tbi inside themselves, would be helpful to have to help someone understand us better.😊

I get it, I am so tired of explaining my action to friends and loved ones and then being told not to define myself by my injury. They cant understand the depression and forgetfullness and then tell me medication is not the answer. I am tired of lying home in bed for days on end struggling to get out of bed and not caring if i take a shower or eat. Had my injury in 2006 and blead out my ear brain fluid and blood. I am now facing a felony charge in Montana for things I did when my wife had an affair , divorced me, and remarried a month later. and cant recall doing anything I was accused of. What sucks is she is a Parole Officer where I am being charged. always fealt i was being set up by her because she wanted a way out when she realized my brain injury would not go away and she wasnt ready to be my nurse. That sucked hearing that out of her mouth. Thanks for your post and it gives me hope a young lady like you is speaking out. I bottle the crap up and then killed the pain with drugs and alcohol which was very stupid.

I fell down a vertical 7m bank on my bike. Have a tbi all my other breaks and injuries are healed and It’s been a year. It’s like your imprisoned in my head get very tired can’t think laterally. Get overwhelmed with tasks that used to be easy. Not allowed to drive at present. Constantly jumpy withfight or flight mode. Have constant cicada noise in my head with super sensitive hearing. Feel crazy hope it improves.

Everyone says write notes, I did from the START because I had almost NO short-term memory so I had to write down what I needed to go and get and carry the note as I went to a room to find it; before that I'd see I needed something (thinking through treacle: SO slow) and go to get it then forget what I went to get, go back to where I was and oh: I need to go get X, so off I'd go again... repeat... sometimes (before I realised I had to write & take notes with me) I'd go and do this many times, over & over, it's terrible. Now, 15 years later, I'm really struggling with so many tasks of daily living; my lists get longer & longer and I can't keep up, it's like running up the DOWN escalator. I'm DROWNING in notes, all over kitchen walls & on worktop, on floors and 1/3 of the sofa. I HATE living like this & in chaos and waste so much time/energy trying to look for things (and this hurts my back & neck BAD), so now I often don't even try to search - I've lived in this place for a year (too many moves, not my choice) and I can't unpack lots of things because I can't organise storage of find/buy the right things and I can't clean because there's too much mess and it hurts too much and I'm already exhausted with trying to wash myself (so cold in shower-room) and hand-wash my clothes/towels/bedding (no washing machine) and try to prepare food and eat properly - I've got swallowing problems+.  I've needed help for ages but apparently I'm not injured/disabled enough to get social security disability money and I lost my job and my home. DOCTORS (the NHS in England) injured me then they lied, denied anything had gone wrong, covered-up & falsified my medical records, they even neglected ALL my serious injuries including brain, throat, neck & vision damage because, they claimed, "nothing went wrong" - they only cared about themselves and THEIR jobs/careers/reputations/wages, not my basic need to know and for my immediate for urgent healthcare. After brain injury we need fast & correct diagnosis and fast & correct rehab - too many of us are fobbed-off with 'mental health' diagnoses = which CAUSES mental ill-health. Unless I pay attention and really notice that I've locked the door etc then I don't know if I did it or not so I have to go and check. I try to remember to notice (& remember) when I do things/tasks, but I too-often forget I have to do this = STILL after 15 years. So many hidden difficulties when our brains don't work as they did and we don't realise how vital our memory (of many different kinds) is until BAM after an accident = ONE DAY it's gone, wiped out. All the best to you.

4 years after my brain injury, I simply can't let go of feelings of sadness and loss. I feel like I was done in by life for no reason. It's mostly because I have forgotten quite a lot of things that made me, me. I mean I feel like I have lost about 30-40% of my personality, maybe more. I have become kind of a limited person mentally. I used to have a vivid imagination. Now I just have enough mind to exist. I feel sub-human. I am not depressed at all in the conventional sense. I know because I have been depressed before my injury. I am just like not part of human society anymore, not capable of doing things that most people do every day. Life is becoming more and more difficult to justify, there is hardly any reason for me to carry on.

May 5th, cannot remember what year. I suffered a severe head injury after a motorcycle accident. The impact was enough to split my helmet in half. I went over the bars of the bike and slammed my face forward into the road. The effect was so hard that I was unconscious, the only thing I really remember enough was seeing my girlfriend at the hospital ready to take me home. I never had any X-rays or scans of my head.To this day, I ask the same questions, I am losing everything, I've ridden on the wrong side of the road at times because I just have forgotten what to do on the roads. It's just so annoying not being able to remember things.