Brain Injury Recovery – Independent Living

In my post the week before last, I moved on from asking Where Am I Now? am now regarding my brain injury https://lifeafterabraininjurydotorg.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/where-am-i-now/; asking questions like, what are the permanent physical consequences of my injury & how does my injury affect me both socially and domestically? What are my strengths & weaknesses? After I felt I had answered those questions in a sufficient manner, the next step was to highlight the goals that were most important to me. The intention to assess them and look at the potential difficulties I would likely encounter. https://lifeafterabraininjurydotorg.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/brain-injury-recovery-where-do-i-want-to-be/ Then I could think about how I would go about achieving them, the steps that needed to be taken, taking into account the answers to the first question I asked. Following on from last week and the goals I picked out as being most important to me, here is my view on my own situation regarding moving out and living independently.

Getting Out On Our Own

This is something that every adult, young or old, male or female, rich or poor, disabled or fully abled wants as they progress through life; independent living. As you get older and become an adult there are certain things that change in who we are. We develop social lives, a love life, particular interests and hobbies that are our own. We come to the conclusion that we want our own personal space; we do not need to be under the constant watchful eye of a parent. We can look after ourselves, perhaps in a nice, cheap, little one bedroom flat. With some tender love and care and some Ikea furniture, we could definitely make that place our own.

The Considerations & The Struggles

In the paragraph above, I painted a very romantic picture of what living independently is like. What I learned from my own experiences is that there are pretty severe reality checks in store. We hold the kind of romantic vision I described above in our heads. However, what comes with living independently is a series of heavy responsibilities that need to be taken seriously.

There are contracts to be signed, rent to be paid, direct debits to set up, bills to be paid to name just a few and finally, ensuring you are earning/receiving the money to ensure all of the payments can be handled. Also we must consider the fact we have to look after our new abode and we are also depending on ourselves for survival in terms of food, money and all the other necessities involved in life. We also must manage our conditions that have accompanied the ABI. We cannot be under any illusion that we will get to a point where these disabilities will go away completely. However, There may come a time with the right discipline, help and determination that we can get them under control. A position where we control our conditions as opposed to the conditions controlling us. To do that though means being strict in terms of taking the right medication at the right times.

Why I Do Not Live Independently

I have tried on three separate occasions with varying degrees of success to live independently. The main obstacle in this process over the past five years has been the ever-worsening extent of my epilepsy. Here are the ways I have tried to live independently

• University was, to all extents a success. I achieved a 2:1 (BA) degree despite my ABI with a lot of support from the university and epileptic episodes were kept to a minimum.
• After university, I went to live in London to pursue my dream of being a writer. Again, epileptic episodes were at a minimum but slightly higher than they were at university, which meant my dad having to come all the way to London once a month to check on how things were going with me.
• After a year of living in London due to financial reasons as well as health reasons it was necessary to move back to Dorset. Upon my return, I found myself a flat and a job. It was at this point that things took a turn for the worse.

While I was living independently in Dorset, the number of seizures I was having escalated hugely. Being a larger than average young man (around 6,2 and 17.5 stone) I usually end up with a broken bone or a losing some teeth after a fit and living alone put me at huge risk if, for some reason, the fit I was having escalated and my health was put in more jeopardy. With the seizure’s becoming more and more regular and the potential risk to my health while I had one rising, it had become clear that living on my own just wasn’t practical or sensible at the time.

What Did I Learn From My Attempts?

What did I learn? Well, firstly that living alone and having your own space allows you to be who you truly are and it is wonderful to have that kind of freedom and independence. What we should all be aware of though, is what that truly means. Independence means you are doing it for yourself. For people in our type of situation where there could be a crisis or an emergency regarding many things; physical health, mental health, panic or anxiety attacks, it may be a good idea to ensure the place you have chosen to live is not to far away from people you trust who will make every effort to help you.

Secondly, I would say that moving out and taking care of a place of your own is far more complex just in terms of the technicalities and bureaucracy that are involved in making the whole thing official. Sorting out housing contracts, direct debits, council tax and ensuring that the place is right for you depending on your situation are complex issues that can be confusing for anyone, let alone someone who has suffered an ABI. This leads me to number three…

The third thing I learnt follows on directly from number two. I would advise anyone who has suffered an ABI to get someone reliable whom you trust to act as an advocate on your behalf. Or, if it is necessary, take advantage of the help the social services may be able to provide or it may even be a good idea to go and see an attorney who can help guide you through the process and help clear up any misunderstandings so you know exactly what it is you are signing up for. Just to clear up the bureaucracy that is in all those contracts. It is unfortunate, but there will be people out there who may try to take advantage of situations such as ours.

My last Piece Of Advice

Finally, My biggest piece of advice to anyone recovering from an ABI or a disability is to not rush the process. To take your recovery a step at a time and this is one of those steps that should only happen when everything is in place and everything is ready for it to happen. Particularly, only when you are healthy enough for it to happen. That is when you will have the most chance of success.