Support with a Brain Injury: Using Tools Like AI to Navigate Brain Fog, Fatigue, and Just Making Life a Bit Easier with a TBI
- jordanswellness
- Jun 13
- 4 min read
After surviving a traumatic brain injury (TBI), daily tasks like writing, talking, and processing information can feel overwhelming. In this post, I open up about how I use supportive tools like AI to help organize my thoughts and express myself more clearly—especially on high-fatigue days. I also share how small tools to support like noise-canceling headphones, tinted glasses, and rest breaks have made a big difference in managing sensory overload and cognitive flares like brain fog. These strategies don’t “fix” the injury, but they help make daily life a bit more doable—and more mine.
Living with a brain injury comes with so many invisible challenges — the kind most people won’t ever see or fully get. Stuff like brain fog, fatigue, overstimulation, not being able to find the right words, or just feeling totally wiped after trying to process too much at once. It’s a lot.
One thing that’s actually helped me a lot lately is using little tools — especially AI — to help with everyday stuff like writing messages, explaining myself, or even just organizing my thoughts. No, it’s not perfect. But on the days where the fog is bad or I feel like my brain just isn’t working right, it makes a big difference.
Using AI to Communicate When the Words Won’t Come
Sometimes the hardest part is not being able to say what I actually mean — or someone totally misreading me because the way I said it came out weird or jumbled. So, I have leaned on support tools like AI.
So here’s how I’ve been using AI:
I’ll paste what I wanna say into a little writing assistant and ask it to help make it sound clearer — but still like me. It helps me stay honest but not come off super disorganized or confused.
If I’m too tired to write from scratch, I’ll jot down a few messy bullet points and let AI turn it into a draft. Then I can go back and tweak it as much or as little as I need.
Sometimes I even use it to understand stuff other people wrote, especially if I’m having a slow processing day and everything feels too dense or fast.
And yeah — obviously it’s not the same as real-time help when you’re trying to talk live (comprehension is its own beast), but for anything written, it really takes the edge off.
Dealing With Sensory Overload & Cognitive Fog Flares
Besides the communication stuff, overstimulation is one of my biggest triggers. I can go from feeling okay to completely wiped if the noise or lights or stress levels get too high.
Here’s a few things that’ve helped:
Noise-canceling headphones – I wear these way more than I expected. Sometimes even just around the house. They help my brain chill out a bit and block that buzzing feeling I get when there’s too much going on.
Tinted glasses – Especially indoors. Bright light or screen glare makes my symptoms worse real fast. I have rose-colored for outside, yellow for indoors, and blue for screens. I would try them out as I have met some that have pain or symptom flare with certain colors over others, so it is not a one-sized fits all.
Rest breaks – I used to feel guilty for needing so much rest. Now I know it’s just how my brain works post-injury. I need stillness to recover from even small things.
Slowing down – Literally everything. Talking, walking, thinking. If I don’t pace myself, I crash. So I do things slower now, and that’s okay. I miss my old runner-self and teaching yoga multiple times a day, cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the dogs all before people wake up, but I have also come to accept that rest is important, too. And maybe I will be able to get back to that level of achievement as I heal.
Letting Tools Support You Doesn’t Mean You’re Broken
It’s weirdly emotional sometimes — realizing that things you used to do easily now take so much effort. And then figuring out new ways to do them can feel… kind of bittersweet.
But using AI or headphones or tinted glasses doesn’t mean I’m broken. It just means I’m figuring it out. I’m adapting. I’m still me — just with different tools.
This stuff doesn’t erase the injury. But it helps me show up a little more clearly, and conserve the tiny energy I do have for the things that actually matter.
So if you’re someone living with a brain injury, or dealing with cognitive stuff that makes everyday life harder — please know this: you’re not alone, and there are ways to make this life more livable. You deserve rest. You deserve clarity. And you deserve to be understood — whether that’s with your own voice or a little help shaping your words along the way.
Sending healing vibes to anyone navigating their own recovery. 🌟✨
All my light. All my love. Namaste.
Jordan
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