Hello,
Have you suffered a brain injury? My name is Tom Lockwood and I¹m
developing a book for publication on brain injury and consequential
emotional, perceptual and social changes.
This is not going to be an objective, medical text. The idea of the
book is to add flesh and blood to what the public sees as a mental
health issue¹ that other people¹ will handle.
Brain injury is one of the most emotionally traumatic experiences a
person can go through. Breaking a leg or discovering you have heart
disease doesn¹t change the way in which society views you, but
demonstrate symptoms of brain injury and many will think you are crazy
or retarded. Labeled insane or stupid is how the depersonalization
begins and all too often the depersonalization leads to lonely
isolation, self-doubt and serious emotional problems. I speak from
bitter experience. My brain damage has changed my life in every aspect.
If the public could listen to us and hear our problems and how we cope
perhaps people would be more sympathetic towards victims of TBI. The
object isn¹t to make others feel sorry for us. Sympathy can be
translated into regained respect for those of us who have to live very
different lives.
Please send me an article for the book. Speak out! You may send a poem,
a letter, an essay or even a drawing. Talk about how you see your life,
what happened that caused the brain damage, the effect this has had on
you and those close to you and anything related to TBI. The authors of
articles selected for publication will be compensated if the book makes
a profit. You don¹t have to be a great writer. This is not a writing
contest. Just be honest and be yourself.
Send all works with a self addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) or use my
e-mail address: beirut at mindspring.com
Your truly,
Tom Lockwood