Stroke Fact Sheet 2: Emotional Changes

Emotional Changes:

Having a Stroke can lead to some intense emotional changes such as:

• Grief
• Depression
• Frustration
• Fear

Some of these changes can be a result of a normal psychological reaction to a personal loss, and some of the changes can be due to injury to brain areas that are related to emotional functioning. The diagram illustrates the parts of the brain associated with emotional aspects.

1. Grief

• When some people realise that they have lost some functions and abilities after a Stroke, they may experience a grief reaction similar to that of losing a loved one.
• Sometimes the rehabilitation process may make a person more aware of his/her losses. This awareness may become a major source of frustration disappointment, and anger.
• The passage of time usually leads to a stage of acceptance and adjustment and the person will begin to cope with the losses.

 2. Depression>