S2 E60: The Mental Side of It All with Dr. Judy Gooch and Tyanne Crook, BrainStorm for Brain Injury

Written By Eryn Martin

Our last episode of the podcast is definitely not the least! We’ve heard from so many of our listeners and have personally experienced just how much brain injuries can affect our mental health. From overstimulation to irritability; emotionality to anxiety; impulsiveness to depression; brain injuries really change how our minds work! In this episode, BrainStorm for Brain Injury’s Dr. Judy Gooch and Tyanne Crook talk about mental health post injury and where you can go for help. I know I was nodding right along with this one and raising my hand. This episode really helped me feel less alone, maybe it will for you too!

  • In this episode:

    • Brainstorm for Brain Injury: How it came to be

      • Dr. Judy Gooch is a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor working with people who have had brain injuries for the last 35 years +

      • Dr. Gooch sees that people who have brain injuries but look well tend to get very limited follow up care and struggle with cognitive and emotional problems.  Dr. Gooch became frustrated and needed to do more.

      • Tyanne, Dr. Gooch and others came up with Brainstorm for Brain Injury

      • Tyanne Crook met Dr. Gooch after her son suffered a brain injury.  

      • Tyanne found it so hard to find resources, help, and others that understand brain injury while going through it with her son. She was struck with the idea of making a guide to help others through brain injury; leading to the non-profit ,Brainstorm for Brain Injury

    • Brainstorm for Brain Injury: What they do

      • Trying to fill the longer term needs of people who continue to struggle after brain injury

      • A current focus is educating mental health providers who work with brain injured people to help them better understand brain injuries.  

        • Traditional behavioral approaches to therapy don’t always work with people who’ve had brain injuries because of changes with thinking, processing, and impulsivity 

        • Caregivers also need therapists that understand

    • Discussion on mental health

      • Ambiguous loss: Mourning the loss of your old life when on the outside you look the same.  Others won’t realize you’re struggling

      • Working 3-4 times harder than you used to to get half the stuff done takes a toll.  

      • Our world is set up that if everything looks ok, lets keep going on our merry way

      • The pandemic has opened up conversations about mental health

      • We are starting to better acknowledge how mental health impacts all areas of our life and function

    • Brainstorm’s approach to help mental health providers

      • They are reaching out individual mental health care providers to get an understanding of what they need and how they can help each other

    • What can you do if you are struggling with your mental health or other issues?

      • Wait lists for therapists can be very long so what else is there?

        • Virtual support groups, podcasts, online groups

        • Reaching out to Brainstorm for Brain Injury

        • Utilize your support system.  Who in your community can help you? Who is on your team?

      • Understand how overstimulation affects you–it can make you irritable, emotional, anxious, overloaded

        • Take brain breaks 5 minutes every hour to decrease stimulation

        • Try using an alarm to remind you to take a break 

      • After an injury, life may not be the same but it can be deeply fulfilling

        • Cognitive rehab and other tactics help you to improve

        • Some are left with struggles for the long haul.  People who do well find new ways to make their lives fulfilling and great post injury

        • Finding a new sense of purpose, something to strive for every day.

        • Need to keep striving towards a goal

        • Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful

      • Takes lots of trial and error to find what is energizing and fulfilling.  We will have failures and have to learn how to accept and learn from them. 

    • What are common struggles people have post injury?

      • Ongoing cognitive and emotional struggles are common and not treated as long as those with obvious physical deficits

      • Irritability, anxiety, depression

      • The default position of a lot of us is if I’d just work harder, be different, behave better then it would all go away.  

      • Brain injury isn’t seen and doesn’t have obvious answers like treating a broken bone.  We look to quantify and are quick to judge if it isn’t seen on a scan or in some other tangible way.  Society and individuals are quick to blame the brain injured person as being deficient and just needing to ‘buck up.”

      • Being more patient with someone who has had an injury helps to save their mental health

      • Not finding healthy outlets for the interpersonal problems that come with brain injury leads to a domino effect (more acting out, social problems, relationship problems, violence, legal trouble)

    • Where to go if you are nodding your head in agreement right now and need help:

      • Physical medicine doctors who work with brain injuries

      • Neuropsychologist

      • Speech and occupational therapist who specialize in brain injury

      • Your state’s brain injury alliance or brain injury association

      • Research universities a lot of the times have community health clinics that provide services

      • Therapists can sometimes advocate to your insurance company for more sessions if they are starting to shut you off

      • Virtual support groups-even though injuries are different there are a lot of similarities

        • Brain injuries are very isolating at a time when you need support the most

        • Finding your people helps to distinguish isolation

        • It’s also nice to be able to bounce ideas off others and build a plan

    • Mental health workers looking for brain injury information: follow on their website and on social media.  Contact them through the website or social media (see links below)

  • Links to any resources mentioned: 

  • Reach out to:

Donate section on our website.  10% of profits go to our favorite non-profit of the moment

Eryn Martin
Next

S2 E59: Be All the You Can Be Post Injury! Heal the Brain with Jane Connely