Everyone wants to know how long it’ll take to recover from their concussion.
Did you know you can just decide?
Literally no one actually knows the answer, so you can choose to believe whatever you want.
Your brain might want to offer the thought that you’ll never get better (or it might sound more like, “What if I never get better?”). That’s kind of the extreme negative.
It can be helpful to give equal airtime to the idea that perhaps you will make a full recovery, and fast, and that you’ll be better off than prior to the concussion. That’s the extreme positive.
Most likely, your experience will be somewhere between these two extremes.
As you’re choosing how long to believe your recovery will take, I’d recommend choosing something that feels kind of far out but not so far it makes you feel like giving up.
That way, if you feel way better sooner, you’ve exceeded expectations, and if you’re not better by your ‘due date,’ then you can say, “Looks like I was wrong about that date, but look how far I’ve come, and what do I want to believe next?”
Our brains really crave certainty and control, and there’s not a lot of either of those in concussion recovery (or life in general), so choose what you want to believe and stop letting uncertainty keep you stuck spinning and holding you back.
You’ve got this, my friends! And if you want some personalized help in figuring out how to approach these kinds of challenging thoughts and questions, I would love to help guide you on your recovery journey. You can sign up for a free consultation at www.theconcussioncoach.com
Yours,
Bethany Lewis, OTR/L
The Concussion Coach