Sustaining a physical injury can introduce uncertainty as you adjust to newfound limitations. Even temporary injuries can have lasting side effects.
What you may not anticipate is just how seriously a physical injury can impact your mental health. Knowing how to care for your mental health as you recover from a physical injury can prevent ongoing challenges from turning into long-term illnesses.
Navigating recovery
Your recovery from a physical injury may vary depending on your health, your support system and how severe the injury was. According to WebMD, signs that your mental health needs help because of the challenges brought on by your injury may include the following:
- Invasive thoughts about your accident
- Excessive emotional outbursts
- Nightmares and insomnia
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feelings of fear
- Gastrointestinal problems
Knowing your risks and maintaining open and honest communication with your doctor can help you implement support before it is too late.
Implementing support
Even when the majority of your physical injury subsides and your doctor clears you to return to normal activities, lingering thoughts about your experiences may affect your mental health. Under these circumstances, you may need to seek professional counseling or therapy to help you work through your emotions and feelings.
Implementing support early on and maintaining it as long as you need can help you to manage difficult emotions and triggering circumstances. Depending on your situation, you may need ongoing support throughout the course of your life. As things progress, you may need to modify your intervention to encourage continual growth. Eventually, you may feel strong enough to move on having made a full physical and emotional recovery.