In this video, concussion survivor David Brimacombe explains how an "identity shift"—the transition from seeing oneself as a parent, professional, athlete, etc., to identifying primarily as someone with post‑concussion syndrome (PCS)—can dramatically influence recovery outcomes. He argues that the brain’s reticular activating system (RAS) filters experience based on what we focus on, so a symptom‑centric identity reinforces pain and limits progress. Brimacombe uses the metaphor of a "glass ceiling" to illustrate how identity can both constrain and empower recovery. He then offers concrete, daily practices to reshape identity: visualizing an ideal future self, repeating affirmations that align with healing, gratitude journaling, and taking small actionable steps that provide new neural evidence. He ties these practices to neuroplasticity, suggesting that repeated positive self‑talk rewires neural pathways and gradually dismantles the limiting identity. Finally, he promotes his PCS Resilience Collective program, which structures lifestyle modifications and coaching to help participants become the "change agents" of their own recovery.
Chapters
2 people can have the exact same symptoms but recover completely differently because the way you view yourself helps determine how you recover. One of the most impactful changes that happened in my identity after my concussion was that I had a shift. I had what's called that identity shift. I went from someone who was a parent, a husband, a professional, an athlete, someone who cared about those around him, to someone solely who had post-concussion syndrome. All those other buckets, all those other important aspects of who I was, who shaped my identity, were gone overnight. Okay, it became solely about my symptoms. It became solely about those signs that I was presenting to everyone around me. That's all that mattered. That's all that mattered to me. And that's all I thought about. Now, what's wrong with having an identity that's solely focused on your recovery? That might seem like the wise thing to do. You're focusing on what matters, and what matters is getting well. But the problem lies is that your reticular activating system, your RAS, determines what you see in the world, how you perceive the world. Now, if all you're thinking about are your symptoms, that is all that you're going to feel. That's all that you're going to see in your world. If you focus on other things like your life outside your recovery, your family, your friends, your work, all your other passions, you will see those as well. Hi and welcome to the PCS Resilience Collective. My name is David Brimacombe, and after 7 concussions over 20 years, I learned that your identity shapes your recovery. Let's begin. So what's really the problem with thinking about yourself solely as someone who is recovering from post-concussion syndrome? Anytime someone asks, what's going on in your life? How are you doing? The first response, the first thought that pops in your mind is, I'm recovering, I'm struggling, I'm in a deep rut of recovery. I'm not trying to say this isn't true. I'm not trying to belittle where you're at in your recovery. What I'm trying to tell you is that those thoughts, those beliefs, shape how you view yourself. They shape your recovery. Your perception becomes your personal reality. How you see and how you think of the world will determine how you recover. Now understand that your identity plays a huge role in your recovery. It shapes your emotions, it shapes your experiences, it shapes How you see yourself. And when your identity shifts from someone who has all these buckets, all wears all these hats, the world shrinks with it. Everything around you becomes about yourself. You think about yourself, you think about your symptoms. The world shrinks, everything becomes dark because your focus goes from someone who is looking at everything around them to constantly feeling what's inside themselves. Okay, now understand that at any given second, there are about 11 million bits of sensory information. Now, that sensory information that you can get from the world can be from what you see, you smell, you hear, or what you feel. Now, when you're constantly thinking about yourself as someone who is struggling with post-concussion syndrome, you feel everything. You feel All those symptoms. You feel that chronic stress, that anxiety, that disbelief in the self, and that's all you think about. And that drags you down. That limits your recovery. I think of identity as a glass ceiling, okay? It— you don't see it ever, but it is something that can negate someone's recovery. If I believe and tell myself I am someone with post-concussion syndrome, I am always going to do things that reinforce that identity. Okay, so when I start to feel better, I will revert back subconsciously because I'm reverting back to make sure I align with that identity. I won't add that new protocol. I won't try to push myself on a walk. I will constantly go back to the person I know I am, my identity as someone with PCS. Now, the beauty of identity is, as much as it can hold you back, it can also be the thing That pulls you forward. We just need to figure out how can I change your identity? What can I do to go from someone who's struggling to someone who's succeeding and becoming the person you know you can be? That's what we're going to talk about in this video. So if your identity right now is someone who is broken, who's fragile, who's struggling in their recovery, I want to give you some simple ways to shift to become the person you know you can be. The first thing you need to do is every day I want you to think about who do I want to become? What is that ideal state that I want to get to? And you're going to rehash this. You're going to remind yourself. You're going to write it down. You're going to think about it multiple times in the day. You're going to tell yourself, I am the person who— I am someone who— it's not a could be. It's not a might be. It is in this present state. See, your mind cannot tell the difference between something that happened and something that has been vividly imagined. If I tell myself so, it will become true over time. It will change that identity so that glass ceiling will shatter and I'll be able to go through it. I'll be able to add new layers to my recovery, but it takes time. It takes consistency. So the, the power of manifestation Uh, visualization is that it reshapes who you are. It reshapes that neural pathways in your brain. So every night before you go to bed, every morning when you get up, the 2 most common times your brain is most susceptible to changing those neural pathways, I want you to tell yourself something. I can heal. I am someone who has the power. I believe in neuroplasticity. Anything that's going to give you that That statement of, I am someone who has healed or who is moving towards the person they want to be. Now, identity shifting takes time, okay? But every time you provide your brain with new evidence, you tell it that you can do it, you remind yourself, and then you back it up. So not only am I saying I believe in the power of neuroplasticity, but then I'm going to try to apply it. I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to do some Gratitude journaling. I'm going to change my mental state and just remind myself, see, it's perfectly possible for me to change how I think, how I view myself and view the world. This is something that's simple but not easy. So with every action, you create more motivation, more momentum in your system, which allows you to further yourself down that identity road. You've taken that identity gap and you've now shrunk it. From where you were, okay? So before, when you thought, there's no way I can ever recover, there's no way I'm going to become this person, that gap is now shrinking. You are walking down the path to get to that future self, okay? It does take time, but remember, every day when your brain is asking you, okay, what does someone like me act— how does someone like me behave and think, okay? Reinstall That new software into your system. Reteach yourself that you are safe, you are supported, you are capable of changing and becoming a better version of yourself. Okay, I believe in you because I was you. I was so far down this path. I was in a valley, in a cave, in the middle of the night. I couldn't see 2 feet in front of me, and I just eventually realized I just need to move forward. And by moving forward, I eventually got out of that cave, got out of that cave, and eventually saw some light, saw a trail, and started working my way up. Now, that circular pattern I took, okay, wasn't ideal. I have carved out a path of recovery. The waitlist is below to join for my PCS Resilience Collective. Okay, in that program, I go through the steps, those lifestyle modifications, where you can be the change agent in your recovery. It is the most impactful, empowering things that you will ever feel in your life, okay? To change who you were, those state, that mental being, install a new software, and then install new programming routines and systems that will not only change your recovery state, it'll change you as a person forever thereafter, okay? If you're interested, Look below. I appreciate the time you've taken to watch this video and your support on this channel. I hope you have yourself a great day.
