TIO theory

My parents influenced so much in the way I think and do. One of these I employ whenever I'm not feeling up to something, either something that's been thrown at me or something I need to do. Last night I employed the TIO theory, or rather the concept of Tough It Out. I was at work and a malfunctioning door slammed into my head pretty hard. I had dropped half of what I was carrying (forks and napkins and such) while managing to hold onto the two plates I was holding. It was quite loud and I finished walking into the kitchen, dazed and in a bit of pain. Now, I like to say that I have a very low tolerance to pain because in actuality I secretly think that I have a less humble opinion of my pain tolerance but this hurt. It hurt so bad tears came to my eyes and I walked back and forth for at least a minute trying not to burst out with anything (obscenity wise or gushing tear wise) while half the staff came over and asked me if I was ok. If I'm perfectly ok and able to say say I will sure say so right away. If I'm in a bit of pain I will not say anything because it's difficult to gather enough concentration to form the words and not start blubbering and having a pity party. If I'm in complete pain I would probably be unconscious and unable to speak. I was in the second category and just shook my head a bit in the affirmative. I was slightly dazed and could feel that energy pain emits radiating from the spot on my head that had been bashed. After I had recovered a bit I walked over to the manager and told her the door needed to be fixed. I seemed ok but a headache was developing and I felt "slightly out of it." That feeling when you can't concentrate completely but not because you are thinking of something else or getting distracted, because there is a kind of white noise inside your head. I thought it was funny when I texted Heather about having what I deemed a mild concussion and she asked if I had gone to the hospital. What a novel idea, going to the hospital for a minor bump! Instead what I had done was work for another hour and a half before going home and taking an aspirin and icing my head. This is the TIO I'm talking about, when there is no reason to go to hysterics and jump to conclusions and quit completely. TIO means to continue unless it is unnecessary and compromising. I was fine, just slightly disoriented and had a headache, two symptoms I've experienced plenty of times in other circumstances. There is a point where measures need to be taken but I didn't feel like I had to be taking them so I didn't. I guess when I told her it was a "mild concussion" she took that to an extreme because the word concussion generally refers to something that is not mild. To be clear, there is no set in stone definition of a concussion but generally...

A mild concussion may involve no loss of consciousness (feeling "dazed") or a very brief loss of consciousness (being "knocked out")


I had not lost consciousness but I had experienced the other symptoms so I'm going to continue to call it a mild concussion. It's now a great excuse as to the performance on my exam this morning. That and I didn't go to sleep for a bit for fear of not waking up, ever. 


As for workplace injury, I'm not dead or permanently disabled nor do I know any long or short term effects of what happened so really there is no case, nor is there a need for one.