“Loss of self” in the narratives of people with traumatic brain injuries: A qualitative analysis

To discover how people with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) experience themselves, narrative data from ten individuals with TBI were analyzed. The findings suggest that people with TBI experience loss of self in various forms although they may successfully use strategies to avoid or minimize the sense of loss. First, people with TBI find it difficult to develop clear self-knowledge about how they have become as they are and what they can and cannot do. Second, loss of self is conspicuous when they compare their present status with their past in many aspects of their lives. Third, their senses of self are threatened by labels that they feel the society imposes upon them. This categorization of loss of self can serve for rehabilitation counseling of this population. It may assist counselors to enhance their understanding of emotional distress after TBI and to make use of their clients’ narratives for the intervention.