People were often unable to remember their ABI and the circumstances surrounding it, resulting in confusion about how the changes occurred, often accompanied by a lack of information about their own life history (Nochi, 1997, 1998). Confusion and uncertainty was associated with despair, distress, hopelessness and a loss of confidence (Freeman et al., 2015). People described making efforts to gather information to ‘figure out’ changes and to make their sense of self more stable (Nochi, 1997, 1998). Table 8: Quotes to illustrate ‘confusion and uncertainty’ Quote Reference ‘I think it’s very important to hear the story about what has (Hoogerdijk et al. 2011) happened to you, as it is the only way to piece the puzzle together’ (p127) ‘understanding brain injury and coming to terms with the hospital (Muenchberger et al., 2008) environment’ (p984) ‘It’s like a void, or a black hole. It’s like, my memory is like a (Nochi, 1997) chalkboard, where some parts are erased…’ (p539) Comparison The theme of comparison represents an important mechanism by which individuals make sense of and adjust to their identity following ABI. Comparison was shown to result in both positive and negative outcomes for self-concept. Comparison was reported as less helpful in situations where individuals reported a tendency to compare their current self with their past self or ‘old me’ or a potential future self they had imagined (Freeman et al., 2015; Nochi, 1998). This was usually referring to aspects of their pre-injury identity that they had valued. However, comparison was also seen as helpful where individuals described comparing their
People were often unable to remember their ABI and the circumstances surrounding it, resulting in confusion about how the changes occurred, often accompanied by a lack of information about their own life history (Nochi, 1997, 1998). Confusion and uncertainty was associated with despair, distress, hopelessness and a loss of confidence (Freeman et al., 2015). People described making efforts to gather information to ‘figure out’ changes and to make their sense of self more stable (Nochi, 1997, 1998). Table 8: Quotes to illustrate ‘confusion and uncertainty’ Quote Reference ‘I think it’s very important to hear the story about what has happened to you, as it is the only way to piece the puzzle together’ (p127) ‘understanding brain injury and coming to terms with the hospital environment’ (p984) ‘It’s like a void, or a black hole. It’s like, my memory is like a chalkboard, where some parts are erased…’ (p539) (Hoogerdijk et al. 2011) (Muenchberger et al., 2008) (Nochi, 1997) Comparison The theme of comparison represents an important mechanism by which individuals make sense of and adjust to their identity following ABI. Comparison was shown to result in both positive and negative outcomes for self-concept. Comparison was reported as less helpful in situations where individuals reported a tendency to compare their current self with their past self or ‘old me’ or a potential future self they had imagined (Freeman et al., 2015; Nochi, 1998). This was usually referring to aspects of their pre-injury identity that they had valued. However, comparison was also seen as helpful where individuals described comparing their
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