Injuring yourself can cause a lot of stress both physically and mentally. Here are our top tips to look after mental health post-injury…

Suffering an injury can obviously have a direct effect on your physical health. Break an arm and you might find it difficult to open jars, or drive, or play the piano. But there can also be an indirect effect on your mental health, which tends to be proportionate to the extent of the physical injury. The most serious injuries, which severely restrict the victim’s ability to perform everyday tasks without assistance, can often presage a sharp decline in mental health.

How to Look after your Mental Health Post-Injury Suffering an injury can obviously have a direct effect on your physical health. Break an arm and you might find it difficult to open jars, or drive, or play the piano. But there can also be an indirect effect on your mental health, which tends to be proportionate to the extent of the physical injury. The most serious injuries, which severely restrict the victim’s ability to perform everyday tasks without assistance, can often presage a sharp decline in mental health. The National Accident Helpline have commissioned a series of reports which investigate the full impact of an accident on a person’s mental health. These findings form part of the company’s Make It Right campaign, which aims to spread awareness of the knock-on mental-health consequences of an injury. What mental health problems do people have after an accident? According to the report, seven out of ten people suffer some form of mental health problem following their experience. For example, almost a fifth of accident victims suffer from depression after the event. This symptom tends to last for around thirteen months. More common are milder symptoms, like heightened stress and anxiety, which was suffered by around a third of respondents to the survey. Any reminder of the accident is a potential trigger for these feelings. As such, workplace accidents tend to present a barrier to returning to work, as the site of the accident might make it difficult to cope. We often find a similar obstacle in the case of road traffic accidents, which can make getting behind the wheel again challenging. How to Look After Your Mental Health after an Injury and During Lockdown These days, it’s not just accident victims who are finding themselves housebound and lacking in stimulation: millions of able-bodied people are, too, thanks to the coronavirus lockdown. So what can be done to protect mental well-being during this period? There are a few simple measures which, taken cumulatively, will help to ease the problem. Daily Exercise Getting out and about every day provides a welcome change of scenery, and it’ll allow you to slowly increase the physical load on your body as you rehabilitate. Of course, certain sorts of injury will restrict your ability to exercise, so proceed based on the advice of your doctor. If you are able to exercise, it’s essential that you do so. It’ll not only keep your body in good condition; it’ll also release endorphins that’ll make you feel good about it, too. Touch base with Family and Friends A sense of isolation can be among the biggest challenges of being housebound. Picking up the phone every day can go a long way toward staving off that loneliness. Apps like WhatsApp, Skype and Zoom can take things a stage further, as you’ll actually be able to see the faces of the people you’re missing (and inspect the dubious quality of their haircuts). Manage your Expectations Finally, it’s worth stressing that you shouldn’t be pushing too hard toward recovery. Do this, and you’re likely to run into setbacks and stress. Understand that you’re going to have good days and bad days along the way, and try to keep an eye on the big picture. If you need a little perspective, then you might keep a written diary of your experiences – this can be therapeutic, but it can also provide you with something to look back on when you need to remind yourself of how far you’ve progressed. — Back of peaceful woman meditating outside

The National Accident Helpline has commissioned a series of reports which investigate the full impact of an accident on a person’s mental health. These findings form part of the company’s Make It Right campaign, which aims to spread awareness of the knock-on mental-health consequences of an injury.

What mental health problems do people have after an accident?

According to the report, seven out of ten people suffer some form of mental health problem following their experience. For example, almost a fifth of accident victims suffer from depression after the event. This symptom tends to last for around thirteen months. More common are milder symptoms, like heightened stress and anxiety, which was suffered by around a third of respondents to the survey.

Any reminder of the accident is a potential trigger for these feelings. As such, workplace accidents tend to present a barrier to returning to work, as the site of the accident might make it difficult to cope. We often find a similar obstacle in the case of road traffic accidents, which can make getting behind the wheel again challenging.

How to Look After Your Mental Health after an Injury and During Lockdown

These days, it’s not just accident victims who are finding themselves housebound and lacking in stimulation: millions of able-bodied people are, too, thanks to the coronavirus lockdown.

So what can be done to protect mental well-being during this period? There are a few simple measures which, taken cumulatively, will help to ease the problem.

Daily Exercise

Getting out and about every day provides a welcome change of scenery, and it’ll allow you to slowly increase the physical load on your body as you rehabilitate. Of course, certain sorts of injury will restrict your ability to exercise, so proceed based on the advice of your doctor. If you are able to exercise, it’s essential that you do so. It’ll not only keep your body in good condition; it’ll also release endorphins that’ll make you feel good about it, too.

Touch base with Family and Friends

A sense of isolation can be among the biggest challenges of being housebound. Picking up the phone every day can go a long way toward staving off that loneliness. Apps like WhatsApp, Skype and Zoom can take things a stage further, as you’ll actually be able to see the faces of the people you’re missing (and inspect the dubious quality of their haircuts).

Manage your Expectations

Finally, it’s worth stressing that you shouldn’t be pushing too hard toward recovery. Do this, and you’re likely to run into setbacks and stress. Understand that you’re going to have good days and bad days along the way, and try to keep an eye on the big picture. If you need a little perspective, then you might keep a written diary of your experiences – this can be therapeutic, but it can also provide you with something to look back on when you need to remind yourself of how far you’ve progressed.

How to Look after your Mental Health Post-Injury