How To Heal an Injury and Your Mind (Part 2)
5 Tips to Heal Your Mind
It is frustrating as an athlete when people don’t understand your passion or life behind your sport. Most people don’t get it. I always explain to my athletes that our lives can be compared to that of military personnel. Citizens do not get what military members go through, and yet they still love to form their own opinions about them - same thing for us athletes. They only see one part of us. Therefore, there are very few people who really know how to help athletes when the time comes. How are we so far behind on the mental health of athletes? This alone is why I started my side of the TLPC practice. I was an athlete who felt misunderstood and unrepresented and I was fed up of hearing other athletes say the same. I’m here to help heal your mind - no matter the problem you’re facing. Today, however, we are talking about injury and how an injury impacts our mental health.
Depression and anxiety hit hard when you fight an injury, especially when your main identity is your sport or some version of a gym hunk/beauty. If you are anything like me, you organize your whole schedule around when you can go to the gym/train. When that free time opens up because injury doesn’t allow you to go, you start to realize your life isn’t that full…We realize we neglected relationships and didn’t pursue other hobbies, education, interests, money making opportunities, etc. because we were so locked in and laser focused on staying in our athlete role. It’s truly a major identity and life setback where we have to reevaluate our life and what the healing journey is going to look like. It is here where we have to focus on healing and staying motivated…and maybe making some time for some other important life tasks.
As you may have learned from my previous blog - 5 Tips to Overcome Fear of Reinjury - many athletes never return to their full competition level post injury. This can be due to fear, mechanical and structural issues post-op, low confidence/mental health issues, and/or aging out…The only one in an athletes’ control is mental health. Therefore, let’s control that MF.
The first thing I try to remind my athletes (and myself) is that pain is temporary - worst case scenario you need surgery, but then the pain subsides. Even if you have a chronic or nagging pain, there are still moments without pain where you can enter flow and do your thing. Work with your supports on making smart decisions for your health. DO NOT fight through bad pain.
The second you ask? Maintain a winning attitude. You. Will. Beat. This. And. Come. Back. Follow your injury protocol, prioritize rest and recovery, speak positively about self and your journey back to sport. You really want Sarah or Derrick to pass you up for your spot? HELL NO - use your already established discipline and motivation to do your PT. Follow or read the autobiographies of some of your favorite athletes who have faced injury or challenges and returned to sport!
Third: Identify any external factors that are impacting your internal factors, like anxiety. Internal factors don’t just pop up out of nowhere - THERE ARE EXTERNAL REASONS causing the lack of flow, increase in anxiety, poor performance, etc. For example, maybe coaches, teammates, parents, fans, etc. are packing on the pressure for you to succeed and even note repercussions for if you don’t do well (taking you out of a game, being cut, not getting a scholarship, etc.). Imagine for a moment how this could impact your ability to perform well. You go into a similar response to fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. You may use the negative energy/pressure as fuel to power you (this usually is not reliable though), you are unable to focus, you tense up and become forgetful of form, a play, mechanics, positive visualization and self-talk, etc. We have to learn to set emotional and sometimes physical boundaries with people who are impacting our ability to stay in flow. Check out our free download and blog on boundaries here.
Fouuuuuuur (sorry corny golf joke): Work with a supportive sport psychologist, medical doctor/ortho, physical therapist, and trainer to be mindful of your progress, especially if fear of reinjury starts to pop up. They can monitor your progress, body mechanics, and adjust/modify movement until you’re ready to take on the next hurdle. They can also keep an eye on your mental health and make sure depression isn’t increasing!
Last but not least, five: pick up another hobby, see your friends and family, find distractions, do something outside of your sport that you maybe don’t always have a lot of time or energy for. This is a great time to seek some balance in other life tasks that should also be considered just as valuable as your body.
Comment below if these have helped you or if you have tried other things that help!
