Mental health and physical health are deeply connected. If you are struggling with your mental health, you may experience a variety of physical symptoms, such as fatigue or digestive difficulties. If you have a physical injury and are facing a long recovery, you may experience mental health challenges such as depression.
These emotional responses to a physical injury can apply to a variety of situations. For one, recovery after an injury caused by an accident or the fault of another person is not just physical. Survivors of accidents and serious injuries face physical and mental stress that can negatively impact their health.
However, there are ways to care for your mental health as you work towards physical recovery in the aftermath of your injury. Finding mindful, gentle methods of self-care can help during the recovery process and beyond.
Consult With Medical Professionals
Your recovery journey starts with help from a team of medical professionals. A primary care physician can recommend a treatment path, whether it’s counseling, psychiatry, medication or a combination of these. Your physician may recommend a psychiatric evaluation and diagnosis, which can help clarify your mental health treatment course.
Further, a range of specialists is available to treat your physical symptoms and give you guidance. A physical therapist helps you recover full range of motion and can also point you to support groups for individuals on a similar recovery path. A sleep specialist will help you with strategies for healthy sleep and will recommend a sleep study, if necessary, as well as a therapist who specializes in sleep. A dietician will recommend nutrition solutions for a sound body and mind.
No matter what you’re recovering from, there are specialists and mental health practitioners who can provide the specific assistance you need.
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Accept Your Emotions
For many people, injuries (and injury recovery) come with strong emotional experiences. Depending on the severity of the injury and the events surrounding the injury, you may feel afraid, angry, uncertain, sad and a wide range of other emotions.
As you move through recovery, start by accepting these emotions. Take time to acknowledge these feelings as they occur using tools such as:
- Journaling: Writing about your thoughts in a journal can provide you with a safe space for expressing your feelings. Some people benefit from stream-of-consciousness writing, while others prefer using journal prompts.
- Creative expression: Art, music, dance, creative writing—these forms of creative expression can help you to accept your emotions and build something beautiful from them.
Acknowledging your feelings, even when they seem ugly and overwhelming, is a crucial step in the healing process, both mentally and physically.
Set Realistic Goals
Your support team of medical professionals—nurses, doctors, physical therapists, and more—will provide you with guidance as you recover from your injuries. Listen to their expertise and set achievable, realistic goals for your recovery.
Pushing yourself too hard can cause further injury, and setting goals that are too big or unattainable can have a frustrating effect on your mental well-being. However, small goals provide opportunities for you to improve your mental state as you recover physically.
According to the London Psychiatry Center, small goals help individuals build healthy habits due to the brain’s dopamine levels during a moment of victory. Setting multiple small goals in recovery, instead of a large goal, increases dopamine and positive feelings.
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Find Gentle Movement
After an injury, some patients are restless to return to their usual activities, while others struggle to get out of bed. Depending on the severity of your injury, starting with gentle movement and exercises may be beneficial for your physical and mental health.
Gentle movement can help your body to recover from your injuries, but it also provides benefits for your mental well-being beyond your injury recovery. These benefits include:
- Better sleep
- Reduced depression and anxiety
- Improved cognitive function
Finding a form of gentle movement that you enjoy is a great way to aid in your own recovery.
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Try Mindfulness Exercises
After an accident or injury, you may spend your time worrying about what the future will bring or fixating on the trauma of past events. These reactions are normal, but worrying about the past and the future can distract you from the beauty of the present moment.
Mindfulness exercises provide opportunities to become fully present in the here and now, and studies as recent as 2022 have shown that mindfulness can help reduce burnout and stress. You can practice mindfulness and experience these benefits by:
- Breathing: All day, every day, you are breathing. Take a moment to focus on all of the sensations associated with your breath. The cool air rushing into your lungs, the movement of your chest as your lungs expand and contract—these sensations brought by slow breathing can ground you in the present moment.
- Body-scan meditation: Starting at the top of your head, spend time acknowledging the sensations you feel throughout your body.
These activities can help you to let go of the past and future for a moment and focus on the present moment. Bringing your attention to your physical sensations and the reality of the present moment helps provide a refreshing feeling of clarity and safety, even when life and recovery seem uncertain.
Connect With Support
In the aftermath of a traumatic injury or event, some people respond by isolating themselves from others. This comes from a desire to protect themselves from further injury and danger, but social isolation can worsen the impact that the trauma has on their life.
Reaching out to friends, family and community groups for support is an excellent way to improve after an injury. Sharing your experiences and feelings with others in a supportive environment can help you as you work through your emotions.
Seek Professional Counseling
If you find yourself experiencing a severe decline in your mental health after your injury, some resources and professionals can help you heal. Mental health professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and counselors are trained:
- To help people process difficult and traumatic events
- To guide treatment options for mental health conditions
- To work with other healthcare providers to provide the best possible care
- To help people develop the resilience skills they need to face challenges and hardship
Seeking professional counseling for the first time may be a difficult experience. Some people avoid seeking help for fear of judgment from others, however, beyond the fear and uncertainty, there is a path to better well-being and resilience.
If you’re not sure where to start, try consulting with a personal injury attorney. A personal injury lawyer is someone who can reserve all judgment, view your situation objectively and if applicable, help recover a settlement that pays for the type of counseling you need.
Consult Legal Support if Necessary
Throughout your injury recovery, some people are ready to help you. Your friends and family can provide the care and support you need as you work to rebuild your life. Your community can help you maintain a sense of purpose and comradery in the face of trauma. Your medical team can help you as you improve your mental and physical health.
In addition, your legal team can be the support you need to emotionally and physically recover after an injury. Individuals with a variety of personal injuries, including those caused by vehicle collisions and animal attacks, may be eligible for a liability claim.
Your finances in the wake of an injury can be a huge source of stress. The stress from medical bills and the cost of counseling may exacerbate mental health issues, even as practitioners are trying to aid in your mental recovery. A legal support team such as the personal injury attorneys at Zinda Law Group will strive to secure you the compensation you need. You may be able to access funds for medical bills, lost wages, as well as the pain, suffering and emotional distress you’re experiencing due to the injury. This takes stress off your plate, as you can feel secure in your financial situation during recovery.
Your legal team can help you find closure after an accident or an injury caused by another person. With the help of legal support, you can receive funds to cover economic damages, but you can also receive funds to cover non-economic damages. These funds can help to pay for therapy and treatments as you work to recover and improve your well-being after an injury.
Even coming to terms with a settlement as a way to seek justice may help you on your emotional journey.
Focus on Controlling What You Can
So much of life is beyond our control. If your injuries were caused by an accident or the fault of someone else, this lack of control may be front-and-center in your mind.
You cannot control everything, but you can control the ways you care for your physical and mental well-being throughout your injury recovery. You can live in the present, maintain a healthy routine, accept help and support from loved ones and professionals and find activities that bring you joy.
Every day, as you continue to recover, you can make choices that foster a healthy, resilient mindset that will help you for the rest of your life.
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