Trauma In Athletes

There are multiple emotions that come with being injured. There’s the ‘on field’ thought process, then there’s the process of being diagnosed and finally, the recovery stage, and being able to play again. Emotional responses to injuries varies differently throughout athletes. While it is known that some athletes that are injured struggle emotionally, not all injured players experience noticeable emotional disturbance.
The biggest reality of today’s sports is that many athletes have or will sustain career ending injuries. But another huge reality of injuries is that not only does the human body become damaged, but the mind aswell, although attention is not often paid to how not going through mental rehab alongside physical rehab can prevent athletes from returning to their ‘before injury’ level of performance. Some studies have shown that athletes are hesitant to go through mental rehab and
Most are scared to share their symptoms, and see counseling with a sports psychologist as a sign of weakness. Some could be accustomed to pushing through pain, and may not know how to deal with any type of failure properly. In addition, many athletes have not yet obtained their identity outside of playing sports. Therefore, if their ‘sport identity’ is threatened by injury, they may experience a great amount of loss. Getting an athlete to consider going through treatment can be a challenge and requires much motivation. Here’s what some think the issue is, “The problem is that rehab hurts (a lot!), is boring, tiring, monotonous, in other words, it gets old fast. That’s why so many injured athletes end up either shortening or skipping rehab sessions, or not putting in their best effort. The result: slowed or incomplete recovery.” (Taylor 2). Because of an athlete thinking of rehab as being boring and strenuous, their tolerance for it will ultimately begin to run