Athletes’ Psychological Responses to Sports Related Injuries

By: Allison Serraro, ATC

Athletic trainers are healthcare professionals that provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions. Although athletic trainers primarily provide rehabilitation and therapeutic interventions for physical injuries, athletic trainers are also faced with the emotional and psychological stress that many athletes experience upon sustaining an injury. Athletes experience high levels of stress due to rigorous academic and athletic demands, competitive pressures, and public scrutiny. Athletes are expected to perform at high levels of intensity multiple days a week, throughout the year. These physical demands place high levels of stress on the body, which increases muscle tension and increases an athlete’s risk of injury. Once an athlete is injured, other stressors in their life may become magnified. 

Although exercise promotes physical and mental health and wellbeing, excessive amounts of high intensity exercise can have detrimental effects. Negative psychological responses to injury can trigger severe mental health concerns such as, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance use, and suicidal ideation. Anxiety and depression share common symptoms including fatigue, impaired concentration, irritability, sleep disturbance, nervousness, worry, and restlessness.  These psychiatric disorders can negatively affect even the most elite of athletes. It was previously thought that athletes should be tough and “suck it up”. This prevented many athletes from speaking up and seeking the help they needed. 

 Depression and anxiety can cause detrimental effects on the quality and speed of the athlete’s rehabilitation process and more importantly, their quality of life.Therefore, when an athlete sustains an injury, it is important to create a rehabilitation program which includes psychosocial strategies to ensure the athlete is also physically and psychologically progressing. If mental health concerns (eg, anxiety, depression) are not addressed properly during rehabilitation, the resulting emotions of frustration and anger may affect the athletes behavior and attitude during rehabilitation. Psychological strategies such as, goal setting, meditation, imagery, positive self-talk, and relaxation strategies have shown to be beneficial tools for reducing anxiety, stress, and pain, as well as, increasing self-efficacy, self-esteem, motivation, and rehabilitation adherence.

Although we have made significant improvements through research, technology, medicine, and recognition, there is still room for improvement with mental health awareness, prevention, interventions, and treatment in regards to sports related injuries. Recently, more and more professional athletes have shared their experience, strength and hope. Professional athletes such as Kevin Love and Andrew Luck, have bravely spoken out about their personal struggles with mental illness, giving younger athletes hope and confidence to speak up, too. Athletes have a higher chance of sustaining injuries due to physical demands their bodies undergo. Therefore, it is imperative that the sports medicine team and allied health professionals are ready to help an athlete through the rehabilitation process after sustaining an injury, physically and mentally.