Self-awareness means being aware of your own strengths and weaknesses and knowing how they affect your life. After a brain injury, you may not be as self-aware as you were before. You may:
- not be aware of what you can’t do anymore
- not follow recommendations made by your healthcare team
- not notice or remember changes you have gone through
- not want to believe there are changes (be in denial)
- miss how you were before the injury
You may also feel pressure to leave a care centre and go home or back to work. If this happens, you may think you’re ready to make a big change when you’re actually not.
Tips for family and caregivers
It’s important to know that even though you see changes in your loved one, they may not notice them. It’s helpful to know this as it can affect the role you play in their recovery.
Talk to a therapist to learn ways to help them:
- set limits and realistic goals
- try things on their own to become more self-aware
- expect how a task will go (be sure to go over how it went when it’s done.)
- find the best support person to give them feedback
When you give feedback, make sure it’s supportive but also realistic.
