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View Full Version : Got hit in the head. Worried if symptoms are from anxiety or concussion...



J0HN_TIT0R
15-07-18, 22:22
Hey all,

So I've always had health anxiety, and throughout the years it's taken different forms. However, about 2 years ago I became fixated on concussions after I bumped my head and got worried about possible resultant brain damage. This anxiety really impacted my life, and I became worried to do many things because I was scared I'd somehow hit my head. However, over time I overcame the worry and basically forgot about it until about three weeks ago I was hit in the head.

Three weeks ago I was at the barber, and while the barber was cutting my hair he was talking to someone behind him. I'm not sure what happened next because it happened behind me, but I believe that while turning back from his conversation to continue my haircut, he elbowed me in the back of the head. I don't remember it being painful, but I remember instantly feeling the past anxiety about concussion come back. I tried to immediately look for symptoms that would hint that I had a concussion, but I didn't realize any. When getting up from the haircut a few minutes after I felt a bit light-headed, but that was it as far as immediate symptoms.

However, over the next two weeks I experienced a number of other symptoms that I know are associated with concussions, such as light-headedness, difficulty concentrating, and slight nausea when eating. I've been depressed thinking that I actually received a concussion, however, after asking at some other places what to do to best treat my concussion, a number of posters have said that a hit like that shouldn't be able to cause a concussion, and now I'm wondering if all of these symptoms could be due to my anxiety mimicing what I know to be concussion symptoms.

Does this sound like anxiety could be the main cause of all this?

claire92
15-07-18, 22:42
I think anxiety definitely could be the cause of this. They're all easily anxiety related symptoms. If it helps I fell down a flight of concrete stairs from 4 metres and hit my head at the bottom and I didn't really get a concussion, just had a headache for a couple of days!

I highly doubt that you would have been able to get concussion just by someone elbowing you. Because this is the thing you fixate on it's very very easy for it to be anxiety related symptoms. When I went to A&E after my fall they said I'd know if I have bad brain damage.

I really do think your symptoms are anxiety related, but I'm far from a doctor, so if you are worried consult one. If it was anything bad, your symptoms would be a lot worse so don't panic - the absolute worst case scenario is a mild concussion which will right itself easily.

J0HN_TIT0R
16-07-18, 13:43
I actually went to my doctor about three days after the incident, but he pretty much said that it was possible it was anxiety or a very mild concussion, and there is no way to tell the two apart with the mild symptoms I experienced...

I actually havn't experienced any symptoms in over a week now! Whether I just got over the worry or I recovered from a concussion, I'm not sure, however, I feel better.

But at the same time I'm having a lot of anxiety about whether it was a concussion, and if so, am I, or will I, experience any permanent symptoms that maybe I havn't even realized I was experiencing yet?

So that's why I am stuck thinking about the event and trying to disprove to myself that this was a concussion...