When a loved one has a traumatic brain injury, he or she is not the only one impacted by it. The injury can cause a dramatic change in their personality. As a result, your loved one will need the support of family and friends to manage his or her condition. Here are some ways you and your family can provide the support needed. 

Establish a Structured Environment

Following the injury, your loved one could be tasked with learning basic skills again. Unfortunately, this could lead to confusion, frustration, and sometimes anger. To help ease the process of relearning the skills and to help avoid some of those negative feelings, try to keep your loved one in a structured environment.  

A structured environment includes having a schedule he or she can follow throughout the day. The schedule helps your loved one identify tasks or chores that he or she routinely does each day.  

You also should focus on limiting his or her exposure to environments that can add to his or her frustration in the immediate time period following the injury. For instance, spending more time at home where you have more control over unknowns can be useful.  

Stay Involved in Your Loved One's Treatment

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is taking a hands-off approach to your loved one's medical care. Before the injury, it was reasonable to expect your loved one to see to his or her own health. However, the injury could mean that your loved one is not capable of making decisions about his or her care.  

Part of being involved is making sure your loved one's medical team is aware of any changes to his or her mental, emotional, or physical well-being. For instance, if your loved one is experiencing aggressive behavior, his or her neurologist needs to know. It could be an indication that your loved one's therapy or treatment needs to be reassessed.  

You and your family should also work together to ensure that your loved one is following any at-home therapy that has been recommended. For instance, a therapist could recommend reading exercises to help your loved one deal with cognitive skills problems that resulted from the injury. 

Consult with your loved one's medical team to learn other ways that you can help him or her manage the injury and its impact on his or her life. By becoming involved with your loved one's recovery, you can help improve his or her progress.