How can physical injuries affect mental health?
Injuries can be hard to deal with as you experience long recovery times where you can’t do what you want to do. This is why it comes as no surprise that physical injuries can affect our mental health. The mental health side of an injury is very often overlooked and so, we wanted to share some more information about it to help spread awareness further. Plus, we can offer some helpful tips to follow, so you can get your life back on track sooner.
Read on to find out more about how physical injuries affect mental health and what you can do to ease the pain.
How common are mental health problems from physical injuries?
According to research done by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, people with existing physical problems are two to three times more likely to have depression than those who are in good physical health. This shows that it’s fairly common for mental health problems to occur if you’re injured.
Why do physical injuries lead to mental health problems?
Physical injuries are extremely limiting in some cases, which leaves you unable to move around as much as before the injury occurred. This can lead to the following things, which can impact your mental health:
- Unable to work, which means financial worries can enter your life
- Unable to play sports
- Unable to properly look after your children
- Unable to drive
- Pain whenever you move
Are some injuries more likely to worsen mental health than others?
Severe injuries to the brain can directly impact your mental health. This is because the injury can damage certain areas of the brain that control mood and feeling, which can cause you to fall into depression or other conditions. Injuries like this can take a while to recover from, so you may consider making a brain injury claim to get the compensation you need to build your life back up.
What can you do to improve your mental health after an injury?
If you’re struggling with your mental health, then it’s important to know you’re not alone. In England, around one in four people will experience at least one mental health problem every year. This has led to support being available when you need it most. Some of the things you can do to boost your mental health include:
- Speak to your friends and family about your mental health
- Get support from professionals
- Apply for financial support if you can’t work
- Make sure you’re rehabilitating your injury
- Avoid drinking too much alcohol
- Get plenty of rest
- Ensure you’re getting regular health checks from your GP to see if your injury is improving
- Take medication to reduce the pain
