In this instructional monologue, David Brimacombe draws on his experience of seven concussions over two decades to explain why post‑concussion syndrome (PCS) recovery often feels like fighting against oneself. He argues that the nervous system and the self‑identity built around PCS resist any novel habit or routine, perceiving it as unsafe. This resistance manifests as symptom flare‑ups, self‑doubt, and a subconscious urge to revert to old patterns. Brimacombe outlines two complementary strategies to overcome this barrier: (1) introduce micro‑habits that take less than two minutes and layer them gradually over weeks, allowing the nervous system to re‑learn safety; and (2) actively reshape personal identity through affirmations that separate the condition from the person (e.g., “PCS does not define me”). By consistently reinforcing these new behaviors and self‑descriptions, neural pathways deepen, the brain’s “reptilian” safety mode quiets, and symptoms begin to recede. He emphasizes personal responsibility, the malleability of the brain, and the importance of small, scalable lifestyle changes for long‑term recovery.
Chapters
If your recovery feels harder than it should, like you're constantly fighting yourself, know this: you're not broken. Hi and welcome to the PCS Resilience Collective, and after 7 concussions over 20 years, I learned one of the hardest lessons in PCS recovery: the body resists change, even when it knows it'll make it feel better in the long term. Let's begin. One of the most ironic parts of PCOS recovery is that the body tends to resist what is new, what is unique, what is novel. This could be things as simple as adding a routine, adding some consistency to your day. Now, on the surface, that seems like something that the body should be receptive of. I'm trying to create more structure. I'm trying to create more consistency in my mornings, in my evenings. But understand this, that is at odds with your current identity and at odds with how your body currently views itself. It currently views your identity. Now, this is not necessarily something that is conscious, that is top of mind. I'm not saying that you are of the belief you're thinking, well, that is going against who I am. That is going against my beliefs. Okay. But a lot of this happens under the hood. Unconsciously. See, the habits that you perform week after week, month after month become ingrained. They become part of who you are, and your body tends to resist things that go against it. That's why it feels so odd to add a new habit, a new routine in your life. It's not that your body thinks this is actually going to cause you harm, but because it's going against what you've normally done. It's actually going against that existing identity. of who you are as a person. Now, what we need to do first in order to reduce that restriction, reduce that friction that the body's creating against these changes, is we need to reshape who we are. Our mind can assist, but it can also resist all those amazing things that we're trying to implement. Okay. It's simply a matter of convincing it. That this is something that's going to support it. This is something that's going to be beneficial in the long term. Okay. How do we do that? That's what this video is all about. So your brain and your body are wired for consistency, for repetition, for efficiency. Now, when you start to stray from the norm, if you start to stray from what you've been doing, you're going against those 3 key pillars. And when you do so, you get resistance. Your body puts on the brakes. What are we doing here? Why are we creating more stress? Why are we exerting more energy? This is not like your identity. You need to stop. And when I say you need to stop, those are when some of those symptoms come up. The recurring loop of I'm not good enough, I can't do this reappear. Your body is simply trying to keep you safe. Anything new, anything novel, anything unique is something that it's trying to avoid because by avoiding it, it keeps you going down that same path of consistency. And again, anything that you're going to add— good, bad, indifferent— is going to be perceived as unsafe because it is unique. So those recovery behaviors that you're adding, again, they're going to be great in the long term, but you need to get through that initial resistance phase. That resistance phase in your recovery where it feels off, it feels awkward. You're having resistance. Your second thoughts, your subconscious loop in your brain is telling you stop. This is not like who you are. There's a couple reasons for this. The first reason is what I've mentioned: your nervous system is trying to keep you safe. Okay, it's a very simplistic. They call this the reptilian part of your brain. All it does. It has 2 modes: safe, unsafe. If it feels like what you're doing is unsafe, it's going to send the alarms. It's going to increase your symptoms. So that's when you do something that feels normal. It feels like something that would benefit you, but you start to provoke symptoms and you're like, well, I guess this is going to hurt me. Why else would it be symptomatic? It's because your nervous system perceives it. That's the keyword. It perceives it as unsafe because it's not normal. And by not normal, I mean, it's not normal for you. It's out of character. The more you do it though, okay, the more it becomes in character. It more, it starts to reshape who you are as a person. And eventually, if you do it enough times, if you start slow and scale up, it will start to see it as a new you. It'll start to see that you're reshaping your identity from someone who sits back to someone who's active in their recovery. Again, this is the first part. You need to be able to do things in a small enough scale that you're trying to influence and change that nervous system regulation so it doesn't perceive everything as danger. You can also be reinforcing this anytime you start to feel symptomatic when you're doing something. Remind yourself that this is not a sign that I am broken, that this system is broken. It is a sign that my nervous system perceives this as a danger. I need to continue doing this because by continuing to do this, I am continuing to reinforce that this is not a danger. Okay. Tell yourself, I am safe. I am supported. As you're doing it, you're rehearsing that in your mind. The more you repeat something, the more ingrained it becomes. That neural pathway becomes deeper. Okay. And therefore it becomes more likely to be part of your identity. The second reason why this is so tough in this resistance phase, Okay, that phase when you start a new protocol to where it's actually taking hold, okay, is that your identity is a limiter on any kind of recovery. You might not be consciously thinking that you're someone with PCS. You've been struggling with post-concussion syndrome for a long time. It's how you identify yourself. It's when someone asks why, why you can't go out, why are you wearing sunglasses inside? It's because of post-concussion syndrome. It is deeply entrenched in who you are. So when you start to add new things that are going to start to potentially heal you from this condition, your identity is like, what? We're doing what? But that is who I am. That is part of who I am. Now, again, this is not something that you're consciously excited about, that you're like, yes, I enjoy the fact that I have PCOS, that I'm struggling. But your body feels like this is who it is. It's been reinforced so many times that it will resist anything subconsciously, unconsciously, because anytime you do something that's going to interfere with that identity, it's going to pull back. Okay? You're going to continue to do those, those morning routines. You're going to change the diet. You're going to sleep better. You're going to get up and see some morning light. But one day, you know, you're not going to feel so good and you're going to say, what? Wait a minute. That's not part of who I am. I have PCS. I've been struggling with post-concussion syndrome for years. So you regress. You stop doing those things. And again, this isn't something that's top of mind. It's something that you're thinking about. But in this resistance phase, this difficult portion of recovery where you're reshaping who you are, you're reshaping your nervous system, okay? It is highly susceptible to changes, and your identity has not quite been altered. So it's constantly going to push you back to person you were, push you back, push you back until you break through that wall. Okay. And once you break through and you can start to alter that identity, okay, this will no longer be a resistance. Okay. But during this phase, it is incredibly important to remind yourself of the fact that you are improving, that you don't need to constantly tell people I have post-concussion syndrome. I struggle. This is why I can't do it. Again, it is true. I'm not saying it's not true, but it is not helping you. It is reaffirming that in your mind that this is who I am. So anytime you're going to add something new, nope, it's not going to take hold. It's not going to have the same effect because you're hitting that ceiling of identity of the person that you were, not worrying about the person that you're going to become. So here's 2 ways to help solve this. First thing, okay, is you're going to start small. You're going to layer in A new behavior once a week, once every 2 weeks. And you're going to start with something that takes less than 2 minutes. 2-minute walk, 2 minutes of breathwork, 2 minutes of gratitude journaling, whatever it is. But you're going to do that for a week or 2. Then you're going to add more and more and more. And understand that this is not where you see your symptoms start to slowly improve. What this is for is this is reshaping who you are. It's reshaping your identity and it's giving your nervous system, okay, the understanding that this is safe. This is who I am. Don't— alarm's not needed. I am okay. The second thing you need to do is you constantly need to reaffirm. You need to make affirmations about who you are as a person. Okay? This is not about your condition. This is about the person Who's willing to make all the changes for their recovery. So you need to come up with a phrase, something to the extent of, I am healing even when I don't see it. My brain is malleable. Or something as simple as, PCS does not define me. Post-concussion syndrome symptoms are not solely who I am. Write down a few things. I am a father. I am a husband. I am someone who cares for other people. Okay. Start to pull that identity away, strip it away from someone who is suffering from PCS. Okay. The further you can get away, you can start to focus your energy on those concepts. Okay. And those symptoms will slowly start to disappear because they're slowly detaching from who you are as a person. Okay. The best part of this is that these are all things that you can influence. You might not be the cause of your symptoms and you're likely not, But you are responsible for your recovery. No one else is going to care. No one else is going to have that same impetus that you do to recover. And the best part? These are all lifestyle modifications that you can make. Okay, I believe in you. Thank you for watching to the end, and I hope you have yourself a great day.
