Athletic Injury Depression

Athletes who are both professional and amateurs that are injured have special recovery needs. For professionals, their career depends on fast recovery. Any injury that permanently knocks them out of the game is financially devastating. Nevertheless, a serious injury is a major challenge even for amateur athletes, which of course includes regular people and those training for the Olympics. Things happen that make the situation worse, which are:

• Unscheduled downtime interrupts athletic participation or training regimes - This causes the entire body to lose the physical conditioning that athletes work so hard to perfect.

• Injuries occur just before milestone events - Everyone sees this in professional competition. Examples are, when a sport player suffers injury right before a championship game.

• Injuries occur that are not related to sports activities - Car accidents, falling down the stairs etc. happen to all types of people including athletes.

• Injuries that are repetitive - Once many types of injuries occur, for example to specific joints, they are likely to occur again. The effects may be cumulative as well, such as brain damage in boxing or football from experiencing multiple concussions.

Sports Medicine Advancements

The sports medicine offered as physical therapy Connecticut and especially the sport medicine facilities that offer physical therapy in New Haven are working with the most advanced techniques. As a recent example, sports medicine is rapidly exploring the use of stem cells for the treatment of knee problems or those caused by osteoarthritis. Be sure to consult with a qualified sports medicine practitioner who is aware of all the latest information and procedures.

The Mental Type of Sports Injury

While everyone wants to focus on the physical, to get an athlete back to performance in record time, sometimes this ignores the mental health issues that arise. When an athlete is injured, it is quite common that they experience depression.

In an article from U.S. News &World Report, they noted that emotional therapy to help athletes avoid or work through depression is as important as physical therapy New Haven. Uncertainties about recovery time, the long-term impact on the athlete’s abilities, the stress, the feeling of hopelessness, and loss of control can wreak havoc on any athlete’s emotional state, which leads to depression.

Summary

Any athlete who experiences a severe physical injury should be sure to ask the doctor for referral to a psychological therapist to work with the issue of depression that frequently arises.