Injury…be kind to yourself
I am not a psychologist, but I do work with people, and in doing so I have to consider that there is more to an injury that just the tissue damage. I am going to talk a bit about how state of mind can affect your recovery, and some strategies I have found helpful with my patients.
It can be challenging to work in a physiotherapy clinic for many reasons, one being that most of the time the people who are coming to see you are not well. The patients who come into our clinic are, to a degree, suffering and it isn’t uncommon to experience depression and anxiety when you are coping with an injury. You may know exactly what I’m talking about, or you may not, but for those of you who are prone to giving yourself a hard time, let’s consider a few things.
If we look at the risk factors for poor prognosis (the likelihood of you doing well) yellow flags we call them in the industry, one is mental health state and outlook. Generally the statistics say that patients who have a ‘positive outlook’ will do well regardless of the injury/condition. I myself have had injuries over the years, some when I was at my peak in terms of dancing, others when I was having babies or studying to be a physio. Regardless of who were are, everyone of us will get injuries at all stages of our lives and learning to negotiate these episodes can be a challenge especially when it’s stopping you from living the life you want to live.
Full-time training as an athlete has great demands in terms of your time and on the body. So when injury comes along and a physiotherapist such as myself says, “you need to pull back and modify what you’re doing for the time being” can feel like the end of the world. How can you possibly do that with so much going on? your instructors and parents have expectations of you, and it’s something you have done everyday. As such it has become a part of your identity and a means of socialising with friends. Being active is your whole world.
There are no easy answers here, and what’s more it is difficult for a young person to step back and look at the big picture. Longevity in terms of your body and your health is incredibly important, to be able to look ahead and make good decisions now about your well being is a very grown up thing to do. So what can you do? the best answer is to reach out to those around your for help, whether that be a kind ear from a friend, a therapist such as your physio or a psychologist/counsellor in some cases, a general practitioner, someone you trust, just to listen and bounce thoughts off.
In the industry, we try to keep athletes engaged with their sport regardless of injury, you’ll hear a lot about ‘mental practice’ as a valid form of training; staying engaged with the social aspects of a group on the sidelines; engaging in cross-training which is dependant on the injury, clinical pilates/equipment based can offer a lot of options here especially if you have a weight bearing restriction; focusing on other aspects of your conditioning whether it be flexibility, state of mind, etc. Try and see your injury as an opportunity to spend time on other aspects of your well-being so that by the time you’re ready to return to sport, you are better for it.
If you are experiencing mental health concerns there are organisations you can reach out to including Beyond Blue, The Black Dog Institute and Lifeline, to name a few.
Sam and Andy