BRAIN-INJURED VETERANS FACE LIFELONG STRUGGLES

CHICO — Survivors of traumatic brain injury and their families must be realistic, said Harriet Zeiner, Ph.D. "You will never be the way you were before. But you can be better with training," she said.

Chico Enterprise-RecordArticle Launched: 03/31/2008 12:12:53 AM PDT
Staff writer Mary Nugent

http://www.chicoer.com/lifestyle/ci_8754851

Zeiner visited Chico Wednesday for an afternoon workshop on traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder as current issues for veterans. She is a clinical neuropsychologist with the Veterans Administration Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center in Palo Alto and an expert in the field of therapy with neurologically impaired patients.
About 100 survivors, families, caregivers and professionals listened as Zeiner spent the afternoon discussing brain damage suffered by veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is damage caused by the Improvised Explosive Device, or IED.
She said the problems the victims suffer are very real and affect everyday life. There is fatigue, and organization problems. There is anger, which is really a symptom of overload, she said.
Responses may seem inappropriate. Trust becomes an issue. It's complicated and it's different for every person.
To help a person with a traumatic brain injury, the first step is understanding the obstacles.
"There is fatigue, which affects the mental energy it takes to pay attention, switch attention, keep up with a topic of conversation, organize answers to questions ... organize a day's activities," she said.

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