Brain Injuries: The Two Steps Forward and One Step Back Dance

There are many instances where it will be 'two steps forward and one step back'. This will be especially evident in the first year following an injury. However, it is probably something that will continue throughout the entire journey of life with a brain injury.

Recently the incidents with my partner of 'two steps forward and one step back' have been fewer but nonetheless have made a difference in his progress towards recovery. About one and a half years post-injury, I felt we had a handle on the 'lack of motivation' issue and he did seem to be doing quite well.

During the Spring time and into Summer, the weather was nice; he had several interesting projects to work on; a friendly neighbor to converse with and his mood began to improve. But as the seasons changed from Fall to Winter and the weather became cold and nasty, the neighbor was no longer outside and my partner's motivation level began to take a drastic turn backwards. He went back to doing what he had been doing previously - dozing on the couch, playing solitaire and occasionally doing crossword puzzles.

Now, two and a half years post injury, he is looking forward to when I have time to go away - so he can relax - which is what he has been doing all Fall and Winter. Perhaps when Spring finally arrives, he will return to his past Spring time level of motivation.

Another area where he had been making progress and where he now seems to have gone backwards is indicated in the work he does. He had done small projects within the home which he had taken care with but recently he painted the powder room in a way that looked as if it had been done by someone with little or no painting experience. Also, over the last year and a half, he has occasionally gotten small jobs to do, but recently he has had to go back and redo things that haven't been done properly. As a result of this no doubt, the jobs are becoming fewer. This may only be a momentary 'one step backwards' and hopefully he will eventually move forward again.

Around his two year post-injury period, there seemed to be a general spurt of improvement. He seemed to be more comfortable when in company; he seemed more interested in things that were happening and he became more interactive as far as communication. Now six months later, there has been a backwards slide in this area as well.

It seems that with brain injuries, there continues to be the 'two steps forward, one step backwards' dance with plateaus and sudden spurts of improvement. I anticipate that where he has taken backward steps, there will also be a few steps forward in the future as he makes another burst of improvement.