PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO INJURY

Aims - To understand the common psychological responses to injury. Objectives - Learners will be able to list some (all) of the psychological responses.

TASK 1 In small groups Write down as many psychological responses that you can think of. How did you feel when you injured yourself?

Vary from one person to the other Depends on where you/they are in the season Always a negative response first but positive attitudes can be formed. Some will struggle with negative feelings others cope quite well if injury not to severe. Various models developed to explain these responses.

The earlier responses are suggested as follows: Shock Disbelief Denial These are then followed by possible further responses -

ANGER DEPRESSION ANXIETY TENSION HELPLESSNESS ACCEPTANCE ADAPTATION REORGANISATION

After the initial shock is over, the injury may be played down until it becomes apparent that something is wrong! ANGER An athlete’s initial reaction to injury is often anger, think of the footballer who thumps the ground in anger after pulling his hamstring, it’s an outburst of anger with no positive outcomes or benefit to performance or recovery.

The individual is angry that it happened, angry at the circumstances in which it happened. Perhaps angry at themselves or another individual for causing the injury or not doing everything they could do to prevent it. Angry that they are feeling immediate pain and most significantly is likely to be angry at the repercussions they anticipate the injury will have upon their lifestyle and their sporting endeavours.

When a player is injured, they are often made to train separately, this may even be at separate times to the other athletes. They are likely to miss out on any in- jokes, events that occur within training, training developments and strategy developments. The lifestyle of an elite athlete is often centred around their Sport DEPRESSION

Symptoms of general anxiety include muscle soreness, trembling restlessness, fatigue, shortness of breath, tachycardia, sweating, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, being on edge, startled response, loss of concentration, poor sleeping patterns, and irritability Anxiety can infiltrate an athlete’s world. An athlete can feel pressure to succeed, pressure of failing, fear of injury, fear of re-injury, or anxiety about overcoming an injury. ANXIETY

TENSION HELPLESSNESS ACCEPTANCE ADAPTATION REORGANISATION IN YOUR GROUPS DISCUSS THE ABOVE HEADINGS AND JOT DOWN NOTES WITH EXAMPLES TO SHARE WITH THE REST OF THE CLASS.