Sports Final Chapter 19: Athletic Injuries And Psychology

Front 1

Grief response

Back 1

o Five stages
 Denial
 Anger
 Bargaining
 Depression
 Acceptance and reorganization
• Do not follow a set, stereotypical pattern or necessarily experience each emotion in these five stages
• Experts recommend we view typical responses to injury in a more flexible way

Front 2

Three general categories of injury responses (more flexible)

Back 2

 Injury-relevant information processing
• Athlete focuses on information related to the pain of the injury, awareness of the extent, questions of cause, and recognizes consequences
 Emotional upheaval and reactive behavior
• Emotionally agitated, vacillating emotions, emotionally depleted, isolation and disconnection, shock, disbelief, denial, self-pity
 Positive outlook and coping
• Athlete accepts the injury and deals with it

Front 3

Social Support Guidelines

Back 3

 Serves to reduce stress, enhance mood, increase motivation for rehabilitation, and improve treatment adherence
• Therefore, train medical staff in social support
 People with low self esteem less likely to seek
 Coaches and medical professionals for informational support, family and friends for emotional support
 Type of social support needed varies across rehab phases and support sources
 Need is greatest when the rehab process is slow, when setbacks occur, or when other life demands place additional stress on athletes
 Although generally helpful, social support can have negative effects on injured athletes
• Support provider does not have a good relationship with the athlete
• Supporter lacks credibility in the athlete’s eyessupport is forced upon the athlete
 Athletes view social support as beneficial when the type of social support matches their needs and conveys positive information toward them