When we talk about the impact of a serious injury, we are often talking about the physical effects. If somebody makes a full recovery and they are able to move around just as they did before the injury, we consider them to be perfectly fine. But the impact of injury isn’t just about the physical, it’s about the mental effects too. People don’t always realize that serious injuries can have far-reaching effects on mental health and these effects stick around long after the physical injuries have healed. So, what are the mental health implications of serious injuries and how can they be managed? 

Trauma And PTSD Symptoms

This is something that people don’t always consider but a serious injury can be very traumatic. It’s common for people that have been through traumatic events like car accidents and sustained serious injuries to experience PTSD symptoms. In many cases, a personal injury lawyer will fight for damages for the mental impact as well as the physical injuries. Unfortunately, PTSD is a very difficult condition to manage and it tends to go undiagnosed in situations like this because we usually associate it with war veterans or people that have been subjected to violent assaults. However, a serious injury of any kind can lead to PTSD symptoms in the future. 

Anxiety

If your injury means that you can’t work, this can lead to a lot of anxiety. Money worries are one of the main causes of anxiety and it’s tough to maintain financial wellness when you are out of work for a long period. Anxiety doesn’t go away when you recover and many people develop long-term anxiety disorder. It’s common for people to experience anxiety about their recovery too. Concerns about whether they will make a full recovery and what limitations they might have to live with all generate more anxiety too. 

Depression

Serious injuries often lead to depression and this happens for a number of reasons. Firstly, concerns about money or how well they will recover can manifest as feelings of depression rather than anxiety in some people. Being seriously injured may also lead to a feeling of uselessness. When people are unable to do the things that they could before and they can’t work, they feel that they are not contributing and this causes problems with self-worth. 

Physical limitations caused by injuries also make it more difficult to get out and about and socialize. This causes some serious issues because regular social contact is crucial to good mental health. Isolation has been shown to increase feelings of depression, and people suffering from depression are more likely to isolate themselves, so it becomes a vicious cycle. Even after physical recovery, this cycle may continue. 

When looking at the impact of serious injuries, we often ignore the potential long-term mental health effects. But this is dangerous because the physical injuries will heal much faster than the mental ones, and the mental health issues will continue to get worse. If you have suffered a serious injury, make sure that you look after your mental health during your recovery.