Hello....

[Mike10371]

I am a married man with two teenage children. In 2010 I had a bicycle accident that resulted in my acquired cognitive disability and had to leave my work due to ill health after nearly 35 years public service as a government specialist scientist. Since that time, caring for family who also have mental health issues, dealing with family bereavement, trying to balance caring, family life and my own rehabilitation that is ongoing, has been extremely challenging and has made me feel isolated and other barriers, has resulted with my own mental health crisis on many occasions. I am currently receiving mental health counselling, learning coping strategies and now receiving a pension. My children keep me grounded and my aim now is to try and improve my self esteem, health and re-engage with society as once I did.

[randomphantoms]

Hi Mike and welcome.

You will find lots of new friends here and a wide variety of approaches and tips to managing brain injury from those of us with bi and partners as well.

This is a great place to help boost your confidence and answer any questions you may have (at least to the best of our ability).

Welcome again

Love n hugs

Xoxo

[AliCathy]

Hello Mike,

Sorry you've been though such a bad time, not easy at all. I found support from a neuropsychologist helping me to gain an understanding of who I had become and how to manage my memory difficulties. As I had been a research fellow in psychology she had to deal with me constantly telling her what I was expecting her to say! The most difficult problem for me was and still us putting myself first. Even within my own mind I always think of what is required by friends and family rather than myself. It's not easy to imagine that supporting ourselves is brilliant help for others, eventually I am attempting to believe this.

Take it easy pal, I have found getting involved with others quite hard and still find it strange that I need to be alone sometimes.

Let us know how you are doing - cheers.

[cat3]

Hello to you Mike...........and welcome.

It seems you've suffered for too long without help so I'm glad to hear you're getting some intervention for your issues at last. Good luck with the counselling ; I hope you can be totally open and honest with your counsellor so that he/she can access the root of your problems and help you to start moving in a better direction.

Please make yourself at home here. We support each other pretty well and although we don't always have answers, you can be sure you'll be among friends always ready to listen.

Regards, Cat x

[CindyBurton10]

Hi Mike,

Welcome to the forum. 😃

I among many of the lovely people on this forum have been around a few years. And I have had lots of help which continues to this day 8 years on from Brain Haemorrhage. I have shared my experiences and hopefully helped others as well. You will find this a great place to share advice/experiences and sometimes just let of steam, have a rant/moan whatever!!!!! You can ask questions and you will find there is always a listening ear amongst us who can offer their best...........

Take care

Jo 👍

[MXman]

Morning Mike and welcome to the friendliest forum on the planet.

I too suffered an ABI last May so its early days for me but all going pretty well and this here forum has really helped me. Fantastic place to share your thoughts and ask for advice and to just chat with others. Fantastic to see you here. Have a great Saturday. Nick

[sospan]

HI and welcome,

Nature has a funny way of testing us, doesn't it. When life is ticking over, not necessarily nicely, but little bumps in the road you can deal with and move on. The she decides to give you something bigger to deal with like a bike accident and then the world changes and life gets a lot harder. Whilst before you had the emotional strength to cope with it and having a job meant that you had financial strength to pay for things that break and the respite of being able to immerse yourself in work.

The next best thing to some work mates are the people on this forum, you can't talk to them face to face but at least we know what you are going through as many of us have been in similar circumstances.

All the best

[Hidden]

Hi Mike

I can relate to where you are coming from with your challenges and the various different things you have going on at the same time.

Personally, I have found that joining community groups is a good outlet that has helped me to rebuild my cognitive skills and meet supportive people face to face. Depending on where you live, you might find a community group that helps to bring people together with mental health issues.

Kids can also show us how imagination and flexibility can be useful to aid our learning during challenge times, so it's great that you have them around you.

Take care,

May

[Elenor3]

Hi Milke sorry I'm a bit late in replying , but I'dike to add to the warm welcome you've already received. I've been here dice Januaru also following a bike accident and am in much the same position as you minus the interesting job you mentioned. This is certainly the best place you'll find for camaraderie, support, advice and sharing experience with a bit of fun thrown in here and there for good measure. I wish you success in building upon yiur self confidence - you've chosen a good place to start. Hope to hear from you as abd when you feel like posting. Have a good week

[Mike10371]

Thank you all for your kind words of support and advice and making me feel welcome to this new form of communication for me. My main disability / social barriers experienced over the past 2.5yrs or so, as identified by Ombudsmen Jan 2016, caused me much distress by not making adaptations I need, poor communication and delays in provision of advocacy and other services.

I am a slow learner and mistrust most and it has taken me several years to understand the importance of having a voice and achieving duty/ pleasure balance. My current aim will be to mitigate my losses and make progress on my new NHS / SABP recovery care plan and with support from my SABP counsellor and others will hopefully start to achieve a better life balance. Also to start socialising, making contacts / friends at for example this forum, hopefully will only help in this regard, but will have to wait and see. Thank you all once again, and hopefully once I get used to this, I look forward to making contact with most if not all of you in due course. Take care. Mike

[MXman in reply to Mike10371]

A fantastic positive outlook Mike, look forward to chatting to you again. Nick