Chapter 20: Psychology of Athletic Injuries Flashcards
Injury
Trauma to the body or its parts that results in at least temporary, but sometimes permanent, physical disability and inhibition of motor function.
This may involve an individual participating while still feeling pain so that attention is needed due to the pain, there is a loss of or change in function due to injury, and a decision process takes place about whether to continue participation.
What are the causes of athlete injury?
Physical factors - muscle imbalance, high-speed collisions, overtraining, and physical fatigue
Social factors - attitudes and norms such as the perception by performers that playing with pain and injury is seen as highly valued in our society
Psychological factors - personality factors, a history of stressors, and coping influence the onset of injuries, as does an athlete’s psychological skills
What are the psychological causes of injury?
Personality factors - to date, a direct link between personality factors and athlete’s injuries has not been consistently shown; personality is thought to be involved with injuries in more complex ways, interacting with factors such as stress levels
Possible relationship with hardiness and injury prevalence (not fully connected/supported)
Stress levels - people with high levels of stress have more sport- and exercise-related injuries
Explain the stress-injury relationship
Athletes with higher levels of life stress experience more injuries than do those with lower levels of life stress.
The majority of studies link negative life event stress with injuries but in some studies positive life events can also cause stress and increase injuries.
Involved many factors.
Athletes at high risk of being injured had fewer injuries after stress management training interventions than their high-risk counterparts who did not take part in such training.
The greatest stress sources for injured athletes were not the physical aspects but the psychological ones.
Research shows that teaching stress management techniques may help athlete and exercisers perform more effectively and may reduce their risk of injury and illness.
This relationship is complex.
What did Smith (1990) discover about the stress-injury relationship?
Found that life stress related to injuries only in at-risk athletes (those with few coping skills and low social support).
Individuals with low self-esteem, are pessimistic and low in hardiness, have higher levels of trait anxiety, have low mental toughness and low family social support, or have higher levels of daily hassles and decreases in daily uplift experience more injury.
How do you explain the stress-injury relationship? (important for exam)
Attentional disruption - stress disrupts an athlete’s attention by reducing peripheral attention and causing distraction and task-irrelevant thoughts
Increased muscle tension - high stress can cause muscle tension and coordination interference as well as generalized fatigue, muscle inefficiency, reduced flexibility, and motor coordination problems.
Overemphasis on acting tough and a giving 110% attitude.
Failure to distinguish between normal discomfort and pain of injury.
“You’re injured, you’re worthless” attitude - usually occurs when athletic identity is much stronger than the rest of your identities.
Sport ethic norm, values and environment in which “winners never quit, and quitters never win” and “bravery, bravado, and machismo” lead to denial of pain and injury.
What are psychological reactions to exercise and athletic injuries?
Follows a grief response, but is not linear/fixed stages.
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance and reorganization.
Responses are varied and move in a non-linear fashion.
What are the three general categories of emotion reactions to being injured?
1) Injury-relevant information processing - the moment/briefly after you’ve been injured
2) Emotional upheaval and reactive behaviours
3) Positive outlook, coping
KEYS - most people experience a typical response to injury, but the speed and ease with which they progress through stages can vary widely; The period immediately after injury is characterized by the greatest negative emotional reactions.
Other injury reactions
Identity loss - when athletes can no longer participate because of an injury, they may have a loss of personal identity; an important part of themselves is lost, seriously affecting self-concept.
Fear and anxiety - when injured, athletes can have high levels of fear and anxiety; they worry whether they will recover, if re-injury will occur, and whether someone will replace them permanently in the lineup; because the athletes cannot practice and compete, there’s plenty of time for worry.
Lack of confidence - given the inability to practice and compete and their deteriorated physical status, athletes can lose confidence after an injury; lowered confidence can result in decreased motivation, inferior performance, or additional injury because the athletes overcompensate.
Performance decrements - because of the lowered confidence and missed practice time, athletes may have post-injury declines in performance; many athletes who have difficulty lowering expectations after an injury expect to immediately return to a pre-injury level of performance.
Group processes - although injury is generally seen through the eyes of injured athlete, injury to an athlete can affect group processes within a team wither negatively or positively.
Signs of Poor Adjustment to Athletic Injuries
Feelings of anger and confusion
Obsession with the question of when one can return to play
Denial
Repeatedly coming back too soon and experiencing re-injury
Exaggerated bragging about accomplishments
Dwelling on minor physical complaints
Guilt about letting the team down
Withdrawal from significant others
Rapid mood swings
Statements indicating that no matter what is done, recovery will not occur
What are the roles of sport psychology in injury rehabilitation?
A holistic approach is needed, emphasizing the healing of both the mind and the body.
Psychological factors play an important role in injury recovery.
Injury treatment should include psychological techniques to enhance the healing and recovery process.
Athletes will not automatically transfer psychological skills used in athletics to the injury rehabilitation situation (shift psychological skills for injury recovery to aid in proper recovery).
Physical healing does not necessarily coincide with psychological readiness for return.
Psychological factors also positively affect adherence to injury treatment protocols.
How can athletes use imagery when recovering from injury?
Athletes used imagery to rehearse rehabilitation exercises, improve performance of certain exercises, facilitate goal setting, facilitate relaxation, control anxiety, motivate themselves to engage in their rehabilitation exercises, maintain a positive attitude, and maintain concentration
What is the three phase process of rehabilitation and recovery?
1) Injury or illness phase - help the athlete deal with the emotional upheaval that accompanies the onset of injury; psychological skills to be used include breathing exercises, relaxation/meditation
2) Rehabilitation and recovery phase - help the athlete sustain motivation and adherence to rehabilitation protocols; psychological skills to be used include positive self-talk (affirmation, journaling), goal setting
3) Return to full activity phase - full recovery is not complete until the athlete can return to normal functioning within his or her sport; psychological skills to be used include arousal regulation, goal setting (be realistic)
Practical suggestions for athletes…
Set goals for healing and improvement as well as long term goals (avoid daily goals though).
Develop a physiotherapy plan and mentally prepare for optimal healing.
Do mental imagery of healing and of achieving goals.
Emphasize positive aspects of the recovery.
If the injury must be described, always attempt to follow it with a positive statement or image about recovery.
Say positive things to yourself about your rehabilitation and your future performance possibilities, every day.
Be kind, encouraging and forgiving with yourself.
Talk positively to the specific healing part.
Spend time doing healing imagery every day.
Find out as much as possible about the physical components of physiotherapy and healing, and incorporate them into your healing imagery.
Be alert to any negative imagery or replays of the injury (change the image to a positive, healing one).
Practical suggestions for supporters…
Show compassion while encouraging and supporting progress.
Support the athlete’s capacity to influence his or her own healing.
Maintain contact and involvement with the injured person.
Be alert to individual concerns and reactions to the injury.
Listen.
Show that you care.
