Strength Resurgence Podcast
A podcast helping others learn the science and art of coming back stronger from injuries, and how to prevent them, too!
With the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that up to one-third of all humans are living with some form of chronic, musculoskeletal pain, learning a few techniques to combat these aches and pains can go a long way!
Join me, Jim (a physical therapist and strength & conditioning specialist) as I discuss various topics pertaining to living a stronger, healthier life filled with less pain and greater quality of life. From scientific principles and anecdotal experiences, to sharing stories of others persevering through and overcoming orthopedic pain, this podcast aims to inform and inspire you with taking action towards waging the war on pain and dysfunctions that can arise within the body.
The Strength Resurgence podcast is rooted in the belief that everyone deserves a chance at crafting their comeback story and that pain shouldn't get the last word. Whether you're curious to learn a bit more about the body, living a healthier lifestyle, or looking to reclaim your physical health, it is my hope that this podcast allows you to gain the confidence and inspiration needed to take action and join others who believe that their comeback matters...and that it's theirs for the taking!
In strength,
Jim
Strength Resurgence Podcast
#6: Improving Your Mental Health After Physical Injury
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Everyone understands the need to rehabilitate the body after we sustain a physical injury, but not everyone is quick to realize that we must often address the need to rehabilitate our mental health after an injury as well.
Whether it's a traumatic injury, or chronic pain, research has found a surprising amount of mental health disorders that can arise when we are faced with sudden injury or relentless, ongoing pain.
Consider the following statistics from Wiseman, Foster, & Curtis in their 2013 paper "Mental Health Following Traumatic Physical Injury: An Integrative Literature Review":
- 30-93% of all people are believed to suffer some form of PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) after traumatic injury
- 23-45% of all individuals suffer ASD (Acute stress disorder) after traumatic injury
- 16-40% of individuals are believed to suffer some form of an anxiety disorder after traumatic injury
- 28-42% of survivors of traumatic physical injury are believed to suffer from some form of depression.
One of the (many) problems that can arise from these issues is the disorder known as kinesiophobia, where an individual becomes fearful of movement & general physical activities. This can lead to a viscous cycle that winds up worsening our physical and mental symptoms and an overall drastically lower quality of life.
So, the picture becomes pretty clear: we need to have some strategies in place to ensure we don't travel down this road and that we can get our lives back on track--strengthening both our body AND our mind in the process. And that's what's covered in this podcast episode!
The main points in this episode include:
- The mental impact of physical injury & pain
- The pathoanatomical health model
- The biopsychosocial health model
- Common mental health issues after injury
- Feeling stranded on “Injury Island”
- Fear avoidance model of chronic pain
- The power of community
- Mental tactics for better outcomes
Please remember: I am not a licensed mental health therapist and all topics in this podcast episode are my own thoughts and are not medical advice and are therefore for informational purposes only. And while I AM a licensed physical therapist, I am not YOUR physical therapist, so please be sure to get any pain or medical issues evaluated by a qualified and licensed healthcare professional.
And as always, stay strong in all that you're doing! Everyone loves a good comeback story.