Back in 2020, I suffered consistent shooting pains in my upper right calf for over a month. I played through the pain for fear of sitting out and learning of something more severe. No one knew what I was going through because I kept everything internal. One day at practice I went up to block and when I came down I went all the way down. Upon the landing, there was a sudden stabbing pain in my calf worse than it had been before. The pain shocked me and I lost my balance hitting the ground hard. I sat there in agony and confusion and tried to make sense of what had just happened. As I went to stand up I immediately couldn’t put any pressure on my right leg. My mom took me to our sports medicine doctor and I received the crushing news that I had a calf strain and was very close to tearing it. They said I’d be out for at least 5 weeks and had to go through physical therapy. Sometimes the injury itself isn’t the hardest thing to deal with. For me being able to mentally overcome everything I was told and reintroducing myself to the sport was the hardest part. Many athletes who deal with an injury are affected by the mental aspect of recovery. 

There is a wide range of mental challenges an athlete may face whether they seem severe or not. While dealing with an injury many athletes find themselves out of their normal routine and comfort zone. Instead of going to practices, they are attending doctor appointments or physical therapy. At these appointments, many become discouraged about the rate of their recovery and whether they’ll ever be back to how they were before. They begin to lose confidence in themselves and their abilities. Once an athlete starts to have doubts that stem from an injury, their healing could become impaired and they could start hurting themselves without realizing it. Some examples of harmful psychological challenges include depression, reduced caloric intake, fear of reinjury, and excessive rage/anger. According to the NCAA Sport Science Institute article “Mind, Body and Sport: How being injured affects mental health”, an athlete may start reducing their caloric intake because they feel they aren’t doing enough to deserve that food. This can lead to an eating disorder or lack of nutrients as the body tries to heal itself. Some athletes begin to isolate themselves from others and don’t want to ask for help. This leads to depressive episodes and a lack of a support system can lead to suicidal thoughts. In the article ​​“Not just a physical thing: The psychology of sports injuries and recovery” by Joanne Barker, she writes “In one study of ACL reconstruction patients, those with higher levels of fear were 13 times more likely to suffer a second ACL tear within two years of returning to sports than those who were less fearful”. Part of rehabilitation is being able to trust oneself and one's body. When one loses the confidence needed to use the injured part it becomes weakened and doesn’t heal properly. The loss of confidence also ends up hurting the belief that an athlete will be able to get back to the sport they love, or that they’ll be the same as they were before. 

Remember mental struggles are completely normal when dealing with an injury, but making sure to stay strong and surround yourself with others is the key to quicker rehabilitation.