Concussion is another injury that can be very challenging for ‘studentathletes’ to handle emotionally.
What makes concussion particularly difficult is that unlike most injuries, the timeline for recovery and return to play is unknown. While making it even more challenging to feel validated in being out of practice or play, with the concussed ‘studentathlete’, compared with he looks normal. Injury like a ACL -while it poses a serious setback to the studentathlete -at least comes with a somewhat predictable timeline for rehabilitation and recovery. Given the emotional and cognitive symptoms associated with concussion, ‘student athletes’ often struggle with their academic demands. Basically, the initial period of treatment includes both cognitive and physical rest, that counters the rigorous exercise routine many ‘studentathletes’ often depend on to handle stressors, with concussion.
One problematic reaction is when injured studentathletes restrict their caloric intake as long as they feel that since they are injured, they don’t deserve to eat.
Together with nutrition and strength and conditioning, it might be better received by ‘student athletes’ and coaches, thereby increasing the compliance with management and treatment, So if this can be incorporated into the overall goal of optimizing performance. Normally, this kind of a reaction can be a trigger for disordered eating. Considering the above said. It’s essential to see the mental health resources available on any campus and consider both early referral as well as establishing multidisciplinary teams that include athletic trainers, team physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists and identical health care providers to provide care for mental health problems in studentathletes. With that said, this problematic reaction only heightens the likelihood these unhealthy behaviors will worsen, when a ‘student athlete’ is already at risk for disordered eating.
Another problematic response to injury is depression, that magnifies other responses and can also impact recovery.
It was a combination of the atrophying of my legs, the new scars, and feeling like a caged animal. Street ultimately received treatment and returned to skiing before retiring. Therefore, depression in associated with performance failure. She battled significant depression during her recovery, when Olympic skier Picabo Street sustained significant leg and knee injuries in March 1998. This is the case. She stated. Similar to knee injuries associated with time loss from sport, they can suffer both physically as well as emotionally with a decrease in their quality of life, when ‘student athletes’ sustain significant injuries.
It’s vital to be aware of common signs and symptoms for various mental health problems and have a grasp of the resources available to treat them, as an athletic trainer or team physician. There’s a normal emotional reaction that includes processing the medical information about the injury provided by the medical team, as well as coping emotionally with the injury, when a ‘studentathlete’ is injured. Those personnel also must do everything possible to demystify mental health problems and allow studentathletes to understand that symptoms of mental health problems are as important to recognize and treat as symptoms for other medical problems and musculoskeletal problems. Yes, that’s right! Underscoring the availability of sports medicine staffs to provide for early referral and management of mental health problems is essential.
Injuries, while hopefully infrequent, are often an unavoidable part of sport participation.
For problems such as depression, anxiety, disordered eating, and substance use or abuse. Having a comprehensive plan in place to screen for, detect and manage studentathletes with problematic response to injury is an important first step. Given all that is known about mental health problems in athletes -and the role of injury and the barriers to treatment -the bar is raised in regards to what athletic trainers and team physicians can do in the future. Notice, some impose a substantial physical and mental burden, while most injuries can be managed with and similar activities of daily living.
For the studentathlete with concussion, Surely it’s especially important -and difficult -to watch for problematic psychological responses to the injury.
Some student athletes experience emotional symptoms as a direct result of the brain trauma that can include feeling sad or irritable. In if these symptoms don’t is being going away it’s crucial to explore whether they associated with a mental health issue like depression and not directly to the injury itself. Simply waiting for the brain to recover was not enough, when that’s the case.
