Diary of a Concussion

Hmm. I roller-skated into a carpeted wall at very close to full throttle. I woke up on the floor maybe 30 seconds later. My concussion left me with a brain that worked just fine, except for one thing: Numbers didn't correlate to the real world any more.

I looked at my watch. It said 6:18. I could read the numbers just fine... but what time is that? Is it early? Late? When is that?

I drove myself home (mistake - do not drive when you're brain's messed up, but I got away with it). I stopped for gas. It was 86.9 (yeah, this was a long time ago). Again, I could read the number just fine, but... how much money is that? Is it a good price? A bad one?

Two days later, numbers made sense again. I have no side effects that I have observed.

One thing I have in common with the writer: I don't remember the impact, either. My memory ends with my head still about a foot away from the wall.

Note well: This is completely and totally not saying "this is what you should expect". It's not saying you're a wimp if you had more damage than me. It's my experience; nothing more. (It's also not a demand that everyone carpet the sides of the sound booths at roller staking rinks, though that isn't a bad idea...)

I've had a fairly mild concussion, neither myself nor other people close to me recognized a change in my personality or mental capacity. Perhaps I wasn't looking close enough, but here's hoping I was largely unaffected.

I wasn't engaging in dangerous activity, but know I have to extra careful moving forward. I think the most dangerous activity I do is the occasional ~5m bike ride without a helmet, weekly driving in a car and rock climbing.

So impact isn't necessary for a concussion...I wonder if aggressive roller-coaster style rides could be causing brain damage?

> Was this was the anxiety that had been mentioned in the medical literature?

I don’t know. I’ve had a difference expierence with brain injury and anxiety. My recovery resulted in classic anxiety; I experienced social anxiety and depression.

This makes me wonder if there is a constant G at which the regular situation would be indistinguishable from a concussion or if it is the relative change to normal that causes this.

Url changed from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/oct/05/this-is-what-a-..., which points to this.