To knock out some of the food for thought questions right off the back, psychology of injury is an interesting topic yet makes much sense, especially given our careers (And dependency on it!). I thought we were going to delve more into the predictors, psychological reactions, and strategies to help them cope through their emotional responses. Which we did! I have only taken one sport psychology course since coming to graduate school, so I’d say I’m still a pretty fresh slate. One thing that did point out to me was the correlation in emotions and how well they match, even for how generic the cases can be. For example, the progressive reactions to athletic injuries that depend on the length, severity and symptoms that would be seen, can be short-cased
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Like I’ve stated before I’ve never taken an in-depth class into psychology involving sports (minus the very generic one in undergraduate). One of my favorite quotes and something I tell my students and athletes frequently is “your heaven is someone’s hell, and your hell is someone’s heaven,” really trying to put into perspective how different events in different people’s lives affect one another. One of my favorite lessons, was the positive aspects of injury. Without even thinking about your slides, I can tell from experience that athletes who go through rehabilitation and who come out of an injury are mentally, physically, and I would argue socially stronger. Mentally many would understand, yet little could explain why. Sometimes these injuries send our athlete to a deep unknown area in their life. When they come back, is what makes them stronger, mentally. Physically, is quite simple, but socially has a different concept. I remember the realistic expectations, but reframe this into a different light. This, at its most basic concept, humbles athletes; more so than ever before. It reminds athletes to become grateful for what they have, what they will have, and what they have had. An injury can sometimes strip someone of their identity, and force them to start anew, creating a total different persona; or recreate one they’ve …show more content…
It depends on so many factors and facets in the person’s life; such as demographics, family status, position, self-identity, along with the injury type itself. Knowing athletes is also a crucial component to this as well. I would rather someone have an ACL tear, since I know that that athlete is mentally tough and formidable, compared to another athlete; who I would wrap in bubble wrap. These reactions are not only predictable, but quite similar and can change in nature. One of the weirder things, that I was able to see with a few of my athletes, was the grief process. “I can walk it off”, or “it’s not that bad, let’s wait for the MRI”. Going through this denial to acceptance is such a fascinating process which is molded and cured to everyone
Like I’ve stated before I’ve never taken an in-depth class into psychology involving sports (minus the very generic one in undergraduate). One of my favorite quotes and something I tell my students and athletes frequently is “your heaven is someone’s hell, and your hell is someone’s heaven,” really trying to put into perspective how different events in different people’s lives affect one another. One of my favorite lessons, was the positive aspects of injury. Without even thinking about your slides, I can tell from experience that athletes who go through rehabilitation and who come out of an injury are mentally, physically, and I would argue socially stronger. Mentally many would understand, yet little could explain why. Sometimes these injuries send our athlete to a deep unknown area in their life. When they come back, is what makes them stronger, mentally. Physically, is quite simple, but socially has a different concept. I remember the realistic expectations, but reframe this into a different light. This, at its most basic concept, humbles athletes; more so than ever before. It reminds athletes to become grateful for what they have, what they will have, and what they have had. An injury can sometimes strip someone of their identity, and force them to start anew, creating a total different persona; or recreate one they’ve …show more content…
It depends on so many factors and facets in the person’s life; such as demographics, family status, position, self-identity, along with the injury type itself. Knowing athletes is also a crucial component to this as well. I would rather someone have an ACL tear, since I know that that athlete is mentally tough and formidable, compared to another athlete; who I would wrap in bubble wrap. These reactions are not only predictable, but quite similar and can change in nature. One of the weirder things, that I was able to see with a few of my athletes, was the grief process. “I can walk it off”, or “it’s not that bad, let’s wait for the MRI”. Going through this denial to acceptance is such a fascinating process which is molded and cured to everyone