NPR interview with Sex with a Brain Injury author and concussion patient Annie Liontas

By Malayka Gormally. This article was initially published in the 1/11/24 edition of our Concussion Update newsletter; please consider subscribing.

Annie Liontas sustained three concussions in one year in her mid-thirties, the first from a bicycle crash and the other two from objects randomly falling on her head. She recovered from the first concussion, but the second and third concussions precipitated a long journey with persisting symptoms after a concussion. A respected author and a writing professor at George Washington University, Liontas has published a memoir, Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery, available on January 16. In a compelling NPR interview with the unrivaled interviewer Terry Gross, Liontas, who is genderqueer and uses they/them pronouns, tells how their injuries have affected every area of their lives, including sex, marriage, work, and sense of self. Many of our Concussion Update readers will find their journey resonates with their own. 

Liontas mentions doing several evidence-based therapies, including vestibular therapy and ocular motor therapy, and they have made improvements. However, they are still coping with an increased vulnerability. "If I shake the orange juice too hard, that could lead to a migraine. If I tap my head on a shelf — and I mean tap — that can lead to a migraine," Liontas says. 

On a positive note, Liontas and their wife have stayed together; they are adjusting to the "new normal." Liontas compares the lack of cultural understanding of traumatic brain injury, and therefore support for those who have sustained TBIs, to the lack of knowledge about the dangers of smoking in earlier decades. Liontas is hopeful, however, that as a culture, we are about to turn the corner to a more complete understanding of the seriousness and complexity of traumatic brain injury. 

We want to point out that while Liontas mentions that a "CAT scan" was used to diagnose their concussion, CT and MRI scans available in hospitals and clinics are not capable of diagnosing a concussion. However, physicians will use a CT scan to identify what is called a complex concussion, which involves bleeding in the brain. The interview also mentions that Liontas was not wearing a bicycle helmet when they crashed. We want to point out that helmets, while preventing more severe head injuries, do not prevent concussions. According to the CDC, concussions are caused by "A bump, blow, or jolt to the head, or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth." 

We highly recommend listening to this 35-minute interview and the book