Friend gets concussion; depression lifts?

April 21, 2017 1:55 PM

Earlier this week, I received an out-of-the-blue text from one of my oldest friends. She shared that she’d been in an accident and got a concussion… but that it’s okay!! Actually great! Amazing! Her life-long depression has lifted!! Isn’t it wonderful?!? But, uh, I’m not so sure?

One of my long-term, closest friends lives across the country and is an awesome, smart, talented, weird lady. She can also be quite the loner, fairly introverted, serious, brooding, and pessimistic. She also has long suffered from Depression, with its usual relative peaks and valleys. I love her for all of these traits—they make her who she is.

Usually I get a text or two a month from her, if that. And they're generally in the variety of, “yeah, work’s okay… school’s okay… sure, I guess the guy I’m dating is nice, but I don’t know…”

But cut to this week and I start getting texts from her that breathlessly and excitedly gloss over the fact that a.) she was hit by a car, and b.) has a concussion. She skipped right to “…but it solved my depression! Isn’t that awesome???”

When gently pushed for more info, she swore that her PT said she’s progressing wonderfully, and told me not to worry—that it’s all a positive. She's been kind of avoiding anything about the accident, her hospital stay, or how she's feeling physically. And I'm afraid to push!

Since then, she’s been very chatty over text and really pushing to talk on the phone. Which yay! I want to talk on the phone with my friend, especially because I want to hear she’s okay! But wanting a phone chat is very unusual for her.

So, yeah. I’m not sure what to make of this! I know that personality change is fairly common when someone’s concussed. But I’ve only really heard about negative personality changes or, at the most positive, mood swings. Although I’m physically far away, I’m not really getting mood changes from her, per se. It’s just "up, up, up, happy!"

I’ve googled, but the search terms I’ve tried only seem to bring up post-concussion depression, anger, confusion, mood changes, and a few vague mentions of—but nothing really substantive about—mania.

I would be over the moon for her, if her Depression has indeed lifted. I am not afraid of her (potentially) new personality. I suppose I'd grieve her lovable grousing for a bit, but she's my friend no matter what.

I’d really like to know more about her state/condition, what to (potentially) expect, and how I should treat her when we chat. It feels a bit weird to be excited for her, when I'm also so worried!

Any insight and experiences welcome. Thanks!

posted by Empire Today to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

There's a lot of books out there about the neurobiological and personality changes, short- and long-term, after head injury. This one is well-reviewed and probably specifically addresses the situation your friend is reporting.

I think what you do is just generally meet her where she is for now. She doesn't feel the effects of depression today, and that's great for today. The brain is a remarkable and mysterious thing*, and she wouldn't be the first person to report positive changes after concussion. It may be temporary, or it may have a dark side, and if that turns out to be true you roll with that as well.

*And so is trauma. Aside from the fact that she had a mild brain injury, she also went through the kind of experience that does sometimes cause perspective shifts, and can also on its own be the cause of neurochemical changes. They're not automatically bad changes, especially for someone who may have started off with atypical neurochemistry in the first place.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:22 PM on April 21, 2017 [11 favorites]

It makes some sense, just because for treatment-resistant depression doctors have tried and still do try pretty much every kind of controlled trauma they can think of short of hitting people on the head with a hammer. doctors will try magnets and electricity and even surgery on the unhappy brain in the same way that tech support people will suggest you try turning your computer off and turning it on again. It seems to work sometimes. Head injuries are too risky to do on purpose but if they weren't I'd expect them to be the new ECT.

If she is really is under a doctor's care and the doctor really isn't concerned, the main thing I would worry about is that it won't last forever or even very long, potentially. But if it wears off, at least she will have evidence that she's capable of feeling better, even though that particular method can't be repeated.
posted by queenofbithynia at 2:41 PM on April 21, 2017 [8 favorites]

My mother-in-law had a head injury, that made her extremely outgoing and talkative, among other, less pleasant personality changes. I suspect if she experienced a major personality change, that there's more going on there than just a lifting of depression.

She could also be manic right now and that could have nothing to do with her head injury.
posted by empath at 3:03 PM on April 21, 2017 [6 favorites]

And so is trauma. Aside from the fact that she had a mild brain injury, she also went through the kind of experience that does sometimes cause perspective shifts, and can also on its own be the cause of neurochemical changes.

Seconding this. I once had a life-threatening health event and for some reason I was really happy for most of the whole process. I think because all the petty stuff I would normally stress out about just didn't seem worth the energy. Some of my friends were almost upset that I wasn't more distressed. I eventually returned to my normal self.

I've known other people to have a similar shift in perspective immediately after an alarming event, generally temporary. One of the most snarky, curmudgeonly people I know went through a brief period of being openly happy and grateful to be on the planet and for all the lovely people he knew.

I don't know that anyone here can tell you what to expect. Meet her where she is, as Lyn Never says. Even if it's only a brief break from depression, that's fantastic and she should enjoy the crap out of it while she can.
posted by bunderful at 4:45 PM on April 21, 2017 [6 favorites]

Is she taking pain meds due to the accident? A lot of the pain medications dispensed in the hospital are basically in the oxy class and alter mood - positively for a lot of people.
posted by randomkeystrike at 6:41 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

I was in a fantastic mood for about a week after I knocked myself unconscious in a cycling accident. Had the emergency room brain scan and all that. No issues. I was unsure if my elevated mood was because I was suffering a side effect or if it was from the main effect of being happy I wasn't dead or seriously injured. It lasted even though I had pretty extreme pain, an unusable arm and a color-changing head to toe bruise all down one side.

The mood change went away though and the pains remained for a couple of months. :(
posted by srboisvert at 7:00 PM on April 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

This happened to me. Three months ago. I fell, bashed my head, got a concussion and was cured of my (decade plus) PTSD. I lost my startle response, all of it. My depression also improved significantly. I have no explanation for it, but it's been a bleeping miracle. I have told very few people because it's so bizarre. I say give her a call.
posted by orsonet at 12:20 PM on April 22, 2017 [8 favorites]

My ADHD was temporarily cured after I got a concussion, and I was surprisingly not-depressed about post-concussion syndrome for the first year or so. Brains are weird, especially their protective mechanisms. I bet -- based on no scientific background but as someone with PCS -- that her mood lift is temporary.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:08 PM on April 24, 2017 [1 favorite]