I like this episode because it's two strangers with brain injuries finding ways to share about the unique aspects of this type of injury. I met Tanya in one of the post concussion facebook groups and it took a long time until we actually spoke. We get into a lot of topics, like the strange nature of brain injury problems, making sense of such problems, managing the changes, and more. Leveling Up is just one of many issues we tackle.
"Leveling Up" is a feeling that all of a sudden some parts of you, that got lost due to brain injury, have returned. It is hard to explain, but a crude comparison would be with a phenomenon that is known about in language development. There is a 'language explosion' that has been documented in children as they learn how to talk. After a child knows about 500 words, there is suddenly an explosion of language ability, where language becomes effortless and easy to use. In a way that is like Leveling Up, except the inner factors that change are not as clear-cut as language. In fact it is really hard to define what was lost and then returns.
In my experience and Tanya's, Leveling Up seemed to happen over and over again. In both our cases, with each "Level", more of our cognitive, memory, and other hard to define inner capacities returned, and remained.
Below is a link to Tanya's book: MISUNDERSTOOD: THE IMPACT OF GROWING UP OVERSEAS IN THE 21ST CENTURY. I think her expertise in promoting support and ways to help people not feel misunderstood can be extrapolated to help brain injury survivors find supports and finds way to feel less alone.
https://misunderstood-book.com/
