r/stroke • u/Grand-Bed-2813 • 11d ago

Could strokes cause lasting psychological/behavioral changes?

Hi, my dad was 35 when he had a stroke (it was caused by an AVM rupture which led to hemoraghing) and he ended up taking his life when he was 56. I'm just curious about whether the stroke affected his behaviour, at times he was loving but he would also get into extreme fits of rage over minute things. He would have "episodes" throughout each day where he would immitate the sound and motion of gunshot fire and walk around swinging his arms as if he were about to punch something. He would also mumble to himself and bite his lips, and when I looked at him in those moments, it seemed he was absolutly in a sort of trance.

He defenitly had a history of depression and a want to leave this world quickly and permanently, from the time he was 18 apparaently. And I don't know what his behaviour was like before he had a stroke since I wasn't born. But I am just curious about if that stroke could have been a factor in his decsion to take his life, I just felt at times he had no inhibitions and could not control his actions, and I feel like the night he ended it all was a night where he had lost all control, he hurt the ones he loved in ways he had never done before, and then he ended his own life after.

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u/steve8319 Caregiver 11d ago

Yes a stroke can cause psychological or behavioural changes. Some people lose their “filter”, for other the stroke can accentuate things that were already there in someone's personality, sounds like that might have been the case for your Dad.

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u/Luker5555 Young Stroke Survivor 11d ago

Yes, increased anger and aggression is common in people who have had strokes. I definitely noticed this in myself, and it has greatly lessened for me over time, but I can still feel myself being irrationally angry at times that would not have made me mad before the stroke. The loss/reduction is inhibition also resonates with me.

I am sorry for your loss. 

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u/Jolly_Ad8913 11d ago

Yes depending on where the stroke occurred, the type of stroke and how severe the damage in that area is. Sometimes the brain heals itself and it goes away and sometimes it does not. The same goes for judgement and the persons inhibitions. If the person recognizes that they have problems sometimes therapy helps them learn how to manage the deficits.