rajb at inwind.it (Paolo Rajba) wrote:
>Until a few years ago I used to suffer from very strong depression and
>anxiety. I was also an alcoholic and going through very serious problems
>concerning my relations with other people. Then all of a sudden it
>changed. I stopped drinking, became much more relaxed and started
>enjoying the company of others. Now I'm probably the most stable person
>I know, and on the face there seem to be no problems. Often other people
>come to me asking me to help them sort out their own problems, because
>it seems to them I'm so stable and helpful. This is all very nice...
>However...
>I have recently started to think that there may have been a brain
>lesion behind this change. A few weeks before the change I hit my head
>kind of hard, on the top towards the front. Now I have read that some
>patients with frontal lobes lesions start losing their inhibitions and
>often display a "don't care" attitude. Nowadays I often find it hard to
>attach any real importance to things. Is it because I feel that
>whatever happens, things will not be as bad as they were before, or is
>it because I suffered a frontal lobe lesion? I have also become much
>more disinhibited with other people. I used to be very shy, now I often
>say things which shock people, even strangers, and I just think it's
>funny. I don't like drinking alcohol any more, before it used to be a
>necessity.
>I also find it harder to put different concepts together into a single
>"whole" when I'm thinking.
>What do you think?
>>Paolo
Paolo,
The only way to be sure is to see a neurologist and perhaps get a scan
of some sort. Your description of the personality changes are not
characteristifc of a frontal lobe lesion, but any sudden personality
change is worthy of evaluation.
Best,
Bob
Robert A. Fink, M.D., FACS, P. C.
2500 Milvia Street Suite 222
Berkeley, California 94704-2636 USA
Telephone: 510-849-2555
FAX: 510-849-2557
<http://www.rafink.com>
"Ex Tristitia Virtus"
