Alcohol after tbi

[motoxmum3]

Hello, my son suffered a tbi in 2012 when he was 20 years old. Since then he's made an amazing recovery, he got married in 2018 & is working as a welder/fabricator in a highly stressful environment. He's started drinking vodka to help him relax he says, not every week but when he does he drinks to excess. I'm worried that this is affecting his marriage & I'm sure it can't be good for his brain but there's just no talking to him. He assures me that he is perfectly fine & totally back to normal. What can I say/do to convince him that this is not the way to go, he never drank alcohol at all until a few years ago. He has become very obsessive in lots of areas of his life. I am so sad that this happened to him 😢

[Leaf100]

HI MAlcohol is not recommended for bi survivors.

Everyone is a bit different that way

Our automatic systems getted messed up so anything that impairs them is not a good idea. It also isn't a good idea for brain health.

I would.call Headway - number in the pinned post to the right.

They may have some ideas.

I have seen a couple of people at my local society really mess themselves up with alcohol. They ended up in a special program. One of them hurt himself while drunk and the hospital staff was not nice to him - they did their job and just their job. He got the message.

I live in Canada so the name of the program won't help any, though maybe there is one there?

You can't do anything if someone doesn't want to, though if there is a society there and he started going others may be talking about it and he may benefit. I wouldn't tell him you are thinking that way, though. Let him find it himself.

That's all I have got.

Yes,.it is all terribly sad and the lack of support we tend to get sadder still.

Keep us posted.

Leaf

[Westerngeneral]

he needs to admit he has a problem and get help before it’s too late like it was for me I had a TBI in 1977 family bereavement stress at work etc I was 20 years drinking but working during the day eventually Mother Nature said acute pancreatitis for you mate I’ve been twelve years sober now you don’t want your son to continue the route I took there’s a lot of help out there Alcoholics Anonymous didn’t help me but it could help your son or other alcohol help people are out there too my love from Scotland 🇬🇧🇬🇧 take care

[Bradbike]

leave some info on korsakoffs dementia and the number for the local CGL group. Education on the effect his drinking will have on the brain may encourage him to stop.

Korsakoffs is self inflicted brain damage from excessive alcohol. I’ve seen too many young people crying over their lives left.

CGL stands for change grow live. Uk help groups for addictions.

The first step will be getting him to admit there’s a problem. Leaflets and info on safe drinking limits are readily available. I’m sure the wife will be on board to help encourage him?

Good luck.

[Ideogram]

I have no expertise on the medical side of alcohol with a brain injury, but I will add how much I have been craving a pint since my TBI like you can't believe - it leaves you arguably more in need of help to relax (and feel like your old self) and yet you often can't do a lot of the things you'd previously do to help with that (for me it's not being able to climb and get outside, but it could be all sorts of things like sport, independence etc - totally depends on the person).

It must be extra hard being a 20yo bloke who can't drink - getting into drinking more is more common at that age even without a TBI and tbh I can't imagine having navigated the social side of that age sober, particularly if you find mixing with people etc difficult.

I may be putting way too much of my own slant on things, but it sounds like maybe what he needs most is help with managing the stress and mental side of things, having ways to feel like himself, and things to be excited about etc. Maybe talking about this might be more helpful in looking at the root cause than telling him the (quite reasonable) reasons not to? Does he have any outlets?

[Ideogram in reply to Ideogram]

Apologies - I misread his age.

[Painting-girl]

I was told the MTBI left me more susceptible to stress, and overall I think that's still true - despite other aspects improving it of all recognition. Back at the time I also had no idea that I was exceptionally anxious until I was out on duloxetine, when it was like a cloud lifting. So perhaps giving him lots of time to just be listened to without judgement, might be a starting point - find out if there's something underlying this?

[Nemo24]

Try searching "alcohol" on Headway UKs website. They probably have information to help.