Description
I lie in my hospital bed, unprepared to face the reality of my brain injury. Left-side paralysis prevents my left hand from wiping away the tears; a mixture of sadness and bewilderment stops my right hand. Individuals who have survived brain injuries make up the first generation of survivors, as 30-40 years ago people simply did not survive the traumatic effects of brain injuries. Today, brain injury survivors face the task of restructuring their lives to accommodate loss of ability and identity. My study examines how social support and narratives contribute to identity reconstruction following brain injury, specifically the liminality in which survivors find themselves. This (auto)ethnographic study reveals that sufficient "labels" do not exist to describe the liminality of identity reconstruction, and findings of this study suggest that brain injury survivors tell stories as a way of negotiating the tensions of social support, grieving the loss of the former self, reconstructing their self-concept, and navigating the liminal space of identity reconstruction through "label reconstruction." Implications of the findings offer theoretical insights for identity, disability, and injury, as well as practical tools for both brain injury survivors and support groups.
