Episode 337: Losing Friendships & Coping with Brain Injury

Hello, friends. In this episode, I answer questions from listeners of the podcast related to coping and moving on from past mistakes that resulted in losing your friendships, and managing the impact of brain injury on family relationships, specifically between father and daughter.

Question 1:

I have found your podcast extremely comforting over the last week when I went and am still in a lonely dark place, through my own actions where I made mistakes that have ended up destroying my closest friendship of 20 years and lost other friends I am wondering as a 38 year old how I can survive this new loneliness I am facing after losing my friend and another friend who I had feelings for, it’s very quiet and there have been many thoughts that have asked should or how I should continue. There is no repairing the friendship as he has explicitly told me I broke his trust and never to speak to him or his friends again.

Question 2:

Hi – love your podcast and believe you’ll have some good advice for this unique situation.

My spouse had an internal bleed/cardiac arrest 15 years ago. We had been married 3 years and our daughter was 14 months old at the time. After a long hospital stay, he came home and I cared for him for 10 years before needing assisted living for him. He has a brain injury and is cognitively and physically challenged. Memory is a huge challenge.

He has become fixated with relationships with fake people from sex websites. My daughter is aware because she has seen this activity on his phone. She does not want to visit him and doesn’t want a relationship with him. Meanwhile he asks weekly when we are coming to see him. My daughter doesn’t want to talk to a therapist.  How do I help her understand this brain injured version of her dad is not who he was and that he was a great person prior to 2008? How do I meet her needs and know where to push her and where to sit back and let her dictate when and if she sees him?

Thank you for any insight you can share.

Sponsor:

This episode of Hardcore Self Help is sponsored by BetterHelp.

If you are in a mental health slump, consider reaching out to a licensed professional to help. BetterHelp has a large counselor network and you can begin chatting with someone very quickly. Check out betterhelp.com/duff to get 10% off your first month.

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