The Impact of Sports Related Injuries on Mental Health & Strategies for Coping

Sports injuries can happen to athletes at any level and can have a significant impact on mental health. Whether the injury is a minor sprain or a major fracture requiring surgery, the physical aspects of recovery often receive the most attention, while the mental and emotional impact is just as significant.

Sports related injuries are often seen as outside of one’s control, and when your body is not functioning the way you want it to, your mind can follow. In this blog, I will be discussing the impact of injuries on an athlete’s mental health, and coping strategies for managing the mental and emotional impact.

Common Responses to Injury

Athletes’ emotional responses to injury can vary greatly, but there are also many common reactions individuals might have regardless of their level. These include:

-       Depression: Injuries can lead to symptoms of depression such as sadness, loss of motivation, and hopelessness. These symptoms might be especially true if the athlete is required to sit out of their sport for a significant period of time.

-       Anxiety: One injury can cause anxiety or fear of another injury occurring, which can significantly impact an athlete’s recovery process, chance of reinjury, and overall well-being.

-       Identity Crisis: Many times, an athlete’s identity is closely related to their sport and being an athlete. This means that not having the ability to play the sport due to injury can cause a loss of identity, self-doubt, and frustration.

-       Ignoring the Injury: Some of the time, an athlete might not realize the severity of their injury, or might try to ignore the injury altogether, and attempt to return to their sport too soon without enough recovery time. This can potentially make the injury worse, leading to a cycle of difficult emotions.

For young athletes, injuries can be especially difficult to cope with because it might be the first significant obstacle in their life. Regardless of if you are a young athlete or a professional, every individual will have their own ups and downs of battling an injury.

Managing Difficult Emotions

When a sports related injury occurs, it is first and foremost important to acknowledge that it is normal and okay to have a challenging time coping. Injuries are many times outside of our control. It is essential to acknowledge the lack of control you have, accept the difficult feelings that arise, and then find ways to effectively cope. Seeking support is one of the first steps an athlete can take in coping with the mental and emotional challenges that arise.

Some helpful ways to cope with the stress of an injury include:

-       Setting Goals: Creating specific goals related to recovery and outcome can help maintain an athlete’s purpose, motivation, and direction.

-       Communicating Openly: Communicating all the different feelings with coaches, teammates, friends, family, and medical professionals can prevent emotions from becoming bottled up. This can lessen the emotional burden felt.

-       Focusing on the Present: Practicing mindfulness and focusing energy on the present moment can prevent athletes from feeling overwhelmed and anxious about the future of their injury or recovery time.

-       Controlling the Controllable: Focusing on aspects that are controllable such as following the recovery plan, practicing specific stretches or exercises given by a medical professional, and focusing on rest can help athletes reclaim a sense of control.

-       Being a Part of the Team: If the athlete plays a team sport, there are different ways to continue to contribute to the team while injured. This can include continuing to attend and help at practices, and supporting teammates during games.

Preventing Future Injuries

Many times, one of the most important things an athlete can do for their injury is rest. This might seem simple, but can be very difficult for athletes who feel powerless and experience a loss of identity without their sport. Many athletes might attempt to push themselves in unhelpful ways to regain a sense of power during their injury, which can negatively impact their recovery process and time in recovery.

Some common unhelpful ways of coping include:

-       Pushing Through Pain: Continuing to play or practice with an injury can worsen or prolong the injury. It can also increase the risk of long-term effects from the injury that are preventable with appropriate recovery.

-       Unhealthy Self Soothing: It can be common to turn to alcohol, drugs, or unhealthy eating habits in an effort to self soothe during injury. These habits can develop into unhealthy behaviors that introduce other health problems, and cause more difficulty when reentering a sport after injury.

-       Using Distractions Excessively: Distraction is often used as a way to escape overwhelming thoughts and feelings. This can be helpful in managing emotional distress, but might lead to harm when done excessively. Excessive distraction might look like maintaining a constantly busy schedule without allowing rest, frequently dissociating, or engaging in addictive behaviors. It can lead to avoidance and poor adherence to rehabilitation, which can lead to more negative outcomes.

Engaging in these coping strategies is common and might feel like a good way to lower stress in the moment. However, in the long-term, they can cause increased difficulty with returning to sports and increased risk of prolonging injury. The good news is that there are many healthy coping strategies for athletes battling injury, many of which have been discussed above.

Closing Thoughts

Sometimes injuries are unavoidable. Being out of control of when or if an injury will happen is one of the major difficulties athletes face. A helpful way to manage injury related anxiety is to control the controllable. Taking action to maintain healthy habits before an injury occurs can reduce the risk of injury happening or decrease the severity if an injury does occur.

Written By,

Maria Mattox, LPC

www.cuttingedge-therapy.com