"You Look Fine!" - The Real-Life Struggle of an Invisible Injury - TBI Awareness

When people say 'you look fine' I imagine myself having a neuro fatigue and ptsd episode and handcuffing them to me to enjoy the ride.

This lady really hit the nail on the head. UNTIL you have suffered from a brain injury, it is nigh on impossible to convey to another person what it is like to try to get through the day. It is hell. Things which you previously took for granted can become enormously difficult. It's like a dial has been turned down on your former capacities, which are now operating FAR below their old level. Everything seems slower. To use a poor analogy, it's as if your brain is weighed down at all times by it's own lead suit, with the fogginess of a murky day hanging over every single thought process. It can be really hard to maintain attention, especially if there are multiple forms of sensory stimuli surrounding you. Public spaces with lots of people can become overwhelming to the point of being frightening, due both to the amounts of movement in your visual field, and auditory overload. You can sometimes find yourself "tuning out" and just staring into space, not knowing where you are, or what you are doing. There is a battle to remember words, and sometimes their specific meaning doesn't actually make sense to you anymore. Simple mathematical tasks can pose major problems. Short term memory can be very spotty. It can feel like the 'me' that I always knew is slowly fading into memory, and that what is left behind is just a shell of what used to exist. All of which can lead to despair and hopelessness, knowing WHAT you've lost. The battle of my life.

I'm 6'3 210lbs man and Im in tears right now thank you for informing others how it feels. I was dropped on my head as a baby and have had idk how many concussions lost count. Its really been hard my entire life to even socialize with others, hold a job or relationship, not get emotional its like a roller coaster constantly, always tired, can't focus, anxious, stressed, and body is effected by the brain High BP, autoimmune, food intolerance, body swells. Idk if people realize how important and fragile our brains are. Again I really appreciate this video!

I am crying because you hit the nail on the head and put it perfectly and made me feel like someone honestly understands. THANK YOU!!!!

Spot on! Every day is different. Actually every part of every day is different. It's been 3 years for me..and I STILL forget to be cautious making commitments. BC I may be coping well "right now" , but I may be overcome with any of the various symptoms anytime! Fatigue. Or vertigo>nausea>headache. So foggy I can't think. Or it's way too bright. Too loud. Too much motion. Everything is too fast!. Talk slowly. Or I blurt out something. Or Or Or Or My circle has shrunk to almost just me. Family? Friends? Ghosted since TBI..

Asking for prayers for my Brother Jesse who has been in the ICU for three weeks after suffering a severe TBI after falling down a basement staircase at my parents house. He had immediate brain surgery that saved his life after removing a very large blood clot on the left side of his brain. He also had a smaller bleed on the right side. He suffered several other broken bones and is in really bad shape. We were told to consider quality of life for him after only six days, the doctors said he would be on a ventilator for the rest of his life and would never speak or be aware of his surroundings. Well they were wrong because after about 2,000 or more people praying for him on the night of the 6th day, he opened his right eye when my mom asked him for a sign to either keep fighting for him or let him go to be with God. He is now off the ventilator and has a trache, two days with his trach and he was breathing on his own 100% off forced oxygen! He now shakes his head yes and no in response to questions and a few days ago he sat up twice on his own in his bed!! Today he isn't doing so well. He has pneumonia and a UTI and isn't feeling well at all. We still have such a long road with Jesse and he needs all the prayers he can get right now. Anyone who is a believer please pray for my Big Brother during his recovery. Thank you so much! 💖❤💜💙💚💛

This video made me cry at 230 am. No one understands how much effort you put into just existing and dealing with the general and everyday life. I was rear ended at a standstill and I smacked my face against the steering wheel. After that day, i felt i changed. I was sensitive to everything! Meds, noise, light, emotions... just everything. Its hard for me to have motivation and to concentrate on doing simple tasks like doing the laundry. Some days i would just stare and cringe because i would have deal with figure out a chore. No one understands until they have it. Thank you for making this video.

My favorite is. You're very lucky. Lol you think? Sometimes I think I would have been luckier if I died.

15 years since my traumatic brain injury and I am just now coming to terms with everything... for so long, you think your fine, everybody keeps calling you crazy, and you scream, I'm not crazy! there's nothing wrong with me! And you don't even know there's something wrong with you, and when you start to realize there is something wrong with you... you forget again. I feel so alone.... I know I have christ! He loves me always... but sometimes I get so scared.

54 year old man here with a brain injury dating back to seven years of age. Fractured skull impacting the frontal lobe area. I felt like crying listening to this. Thank you!!

I have had a brain injury when I was 5 years old. On my families way out ice fishing a drunk driver hit us. Like I said before I got the worst of the injuries. Doctor's said I would never be able to walk or talk again, but soon after I learned how to do both all over again. Life has been full of ups and downs this video really help thank you.

"You look fine". A standing ovation for you

Trust me, focus intently on what you’re interested in with conversations and shut out the negativity and blatant ignorance of individuals

ty very much for this wonderful explanation! As a brain injury survivor (so i was told) I am sick and tired of explaining myself to others!

This older video will never lose its truth and impact. I dont think very many people outside of TBI really care but as for me and others who have survived TBI my heart goes out. Thank you

I understand, but no one else really understands the deep impact it has on life...as mentioned... making decisions, overwhelmed, etc... Early on afterwards not only did I have many internal injuries that cause a lot of pain and will.... Some say I should win an Oscar. Faking it. But what else can one do? If you don't have support from family and friends who really care (and my parents died during this time) then is there anyone who is deeply committed to understand because of love? A few, This has made me more aware that the connection between others is broken, and it's broken because there is a lack of interest. The side effect of that is typically deep depression and PTSD. "Just snap out of it", "think positive".... well, people, if I didn't try to snap out of it and if I didn't try to think positive, then I wouldn't be here. I fight wanting to die because who would notice? That is the attitude I have gotten for many many years. Recently, after 16 years, I've noticed there are some who are now willing to talk about it and understand. It helps, but maybe if this woujld have happened earlier.... One other thing I hate is others who don't want to talk about their issues. Because mine is worse than theirs. I DO NOT HAVE THE CORNER ON PAIN, and I'm interested in you. Let's support each other~. I love your video's.

"You look fine" or "you look great" used to bother me so much after my TBI. I heard it from everyone, and each time, it triggered me like an insult, I'm grateful my physical injures healed well, that's all they see and understand, and no amount of explaining it changes the perception that "you look fine"

It is so nice to see people understand the difficulty we go though. People say all the time how I look fine. It is so frustrating. I feel trapped in and isolated. I find myself trying to believe it all in my head. Only to find myself way over my head in situation that I struggle with. When I tell people I get tired easy. They think it's like when they are tired, I must be lazy. My stroke was 7 yrs ago I have mild Aphasia. Thanks for getting message out.

I thank you. That is my life i was injured in car accident 2015. With severe. But people don't understand only my family knows my struggles. People only shocked when i have trouble speaking. But its nuch more than that. Of day to day.

it really is a hard injury to explain to ones who havent gone through it i thought i was crazy or something until i finally talked to someone who also had a brain injury and felt the exact same thing i was going through...thank you for this video also its helped alot and is the darn truth...