One single moment. Crack, Snap, Pop. Your athletic career could be over.
Your brain goes into panic mode.
Cognitive chaos sets in, your blood pressure rises, denial and anxiety comes to the forefront of your mind.
Injuries are one of the leading causes for athletes that have to or decide to quit their sport.
Over 32% of athletes that get injured do not return to their sport.
According to PubMed Central, an estimated 90% of athletes have declared that they have experienced at least one injury.
On the mental side of things, according to Contemporary Pediatrics Gonzales et al conducted screenings for anxiety and depression in athletes aged 12 to 18 who presented with injuries at a sports medicine clinic and found that 24% had elevated anxiety scores and 28% elevated depression scores.
“I was anxious I wasn’t going to be able to get back to the level I needed to be because everyone else could practice but I couldn’t,” Allison Grantham said.
Many schools and athletic programs promote injury prevention, but the process of how to handle them physically and mentally when and if they happen is dramatically overlooked.
For people who have not experienced an injury it might be hard to exactly understand how it feels, but there is a lot more that you can learn just by reaching out and offering a helping hand.
If you take the time to ask how someone is, you might see that they are afraid that they could never play again. You might find out that they are doubting themselves that they will ever be good at the sport again. You might find out that watching their friends and teammates play the sport they love and being stuck on the sideline is one of the hardest things they have had to endure.
“I’m nervous I won’t be the same anymore and that I will be worse,” said Makena Tebbe.
The world oftentimes does not feel an overwhelming amount of sympathy for people or teammates that get injured because we have come to accept something that is probable to happen.
On the other hand most athletes think that it probably won’t happen to them. Then it does and they don’t know what to do or how to handle it.
In today’s age sports are very popular and a big deal. So, most athletes spend a lot of time in their sport and probably practice three times a week or more. They immerse themselves into the part as an athlete, but what do you do when that is taken away.
“All I want to do is play,” Tebbe said.
Many athletes go through an identity crisis after career ending injuries which is a lot harder to handle when taken into context and is not just used as a joke.
There is nothing that can stop injuries from happening but there is something that athletes, teammates, and friends can do.
Show them support.
Let them know that they are not alone and that no matter what the outcome is they will always be valued.
“My teammates gave me a basket after my first surgery, and the cars inside had a motivational comment from each of my teammates,” Grantham said. “ It made me feel like I was still a part of the team and they believed in me.”