A serious sport injury for a competitive athlete can have a detrimental impact on their mental health. What most do not realize is that when mental health is poor, recovery from injury is also poor. Athletes who face injury are more likely to develop a mood or anxiety disorder, with depression being the most common. The adjustment to injury and recovery can be very difficult for an athlete. Immediately their world changes, which can make adjustment to the injury challenging. Research also shows that injury increases the risk of suicide among athletes. This goes to show that sport injury is very much a physical and mental process and treatment must also consider both.   

Let’s break this down a little:

Injuries with recovery times that are projected to be several weeks to several months can have a significant impact on an athlete in various ways:

•  No participation in the sport they have worked extremely hard at

• Less time spent interacting with coaches and teammates

• Detrimental impact on social relationships, leading to isolation (contributor of depression)

• Loss of muscle and athletic physique 

• Loss of identity

• Difficulties in school and completing schoolwork 

• Increase in anger/aggression/agitation

• Feeling misunderstood/alone

• Feelings of grief/loss

These are just some of the major points when discussing the impact of athletic injury. What about the signs and symptoms that an athlete may be having a difficult time adjusting to their injury status:

• Feelings of sadness or low mood

• Loss of motivation

• Decreased enjoyment in activities previously enjoyed

• Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness

• Feeling fatigued, sleeping more often

• Difficulties sleeping, nightmares

• Changes in appetite

• Difficulty concentrating

• Excessive worry or rumination

• Excessive anger or irritation

• Crying more than usual

• Isolating behaviors, keeping to themselves

Of course injury in general can be depressing, however, these signs of clinical depression will continue for several weeks. If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these signs and symptoms it is necessary to call and schedule an appointment in order to manage these symptoms before they hinder the rehabilitation process. 

Another aspect of athletic injury is retirement from sport. No athlete wants to consider stepping away from the sport they love, however, sometimes serious injury does not allow for the choice. When injury causes an athlete to retire from sport there is a greater likelihood of clinical mental health issues. It is my experience that athletes find it very difficult to consider their life outside of sport and they can struggle with their identity. Current ongoing research suggests that serious athletes who have retired due to sport injury report it takes several years to establish a new identity outside of sport. I believe there is a way to decrease this time, and the sooner an athlete finds counseling services, the better the outcome.

** I specialize in helping individuals who are facing athletic injury adjust and cope with their injury and rehabilitation process. My own severe sport injuries caused me to retire from sport early. These injury experiences led me to pursue a career helping individuals overcome their greatest challenges in order to propel themselves forward in life. My own experiences have been a true asset to my work with clients.

*** I am currently researching ACL tears in female athletes and the loss and re-formation of identity. I am also a co-researcher looking at the emotional response to severe sport injury and grief. This team is led by Dr. John Coumbe-Lilley out of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). 

There is a call for participants for the research led by Dr. Coumbe-Lilley. If you meet the following criteria please contact Dr. Coumbe-Lilley at jcoumb1@uic.edu

•  Eligible participants must be between the ages 18-64 years 

•  Male or female 

•  Must be a sport athlete in an Olympic sport competition 

•  Has been injured and out of sport competition for at least 6 months sometime in the last three years 

Resources

Measuring Postinjury Depression Among Male and Female Competitive Athletes

Psychological Consequences of Athletic Injury among High-Level Competitors

Depression in Athletes

Emotional Responses of Athletes to Injury