A Brain Scientist's Insight

Jill says the energy of the people around her played an important role in her recovery. "Take responsibility for the energy you bring," she says. "I was over here happy and you're over there trying to talk to me, and you had to be a really wonderful energy coming toward me in order for me to be willing to try to understand."

Jill says she could feel the energy of the people who walked in her room and could even tell which nurses made her feel safe. The nurses who would make a connection with her, simply by making eye contact or touching her foot, made all the difference. "As opposed to someone who just comes in, deals with the machinery, ignores that there's even a warm body in the bed," she says. "I didn't feel safe in that person's care."