For a long time, the medical community has understood the value of Physical Therapy in helping patients recover from injuries. To help patients regain their ability to function normally, carefully defined exercise regimens are created to strengthen muscles that have been compromised by their injury.
Since medical massage is very good at speeding up physical healing, it is included in the treatment regimen. These techniques are very useful, but they only deal with one part of the human body. Often overlooked or underestimated, the patient's overall mental health is essential to his ability to recover from his injuries.
In order to provide the patient with as much comprehensive care as possible, it is crucial to recognize the psychological effects of damage.
Not to mention, it may interfere with the patient's ability to carry out daily tasks and feel independent. This type of patient will benefit greatly from the sports psychology program during the healing process. It can help treat depression, motivational decline, and injury-related fear or anxiety, and teach appropriate goal-setting techniques that will motivate patients to stick to their exercise regimen.
Studies have indicated that certain psychological techniques are essential for the recovery of injured athletes. If true, then anyone recovering from an injury, regardless of sports background, can benefit from these same abilities.
Some notable findings from this study showed that athletes benefited from applying psychological techniques in the areas of sticking to an optimistic outlook, reducing stress and anxiety, and imagining repairing the affected body part.
Mental imaging is a specific example of a psychological technique used with athletes to help them relax before and after surgery in order to reduce their stress and anxiety. In addition, it was discovered that using images to reduce anxiety about re-injury before returning to sports was beneficial.
Anxiety and negative stress were the most frequently reported psychological problems associated with sports injury, leading to the development of a model to explain how an athlete responds to an injury.
The integrated response model explains how an athlete responds to an injury as being influenced by personal and situational factors that are then associated with the athlete's behavioral and emotional response.
Physical and mental recovery from injury is directly affected by these behavioral and emotional responses, which are often characterized by passive/positive self-talk, frustration, and commitment to rehabilitation.
The model highlights skills that influence the reinforcement of positive behavioral and emotional outcomes, such as coping skills, mental images, and positive self-talk.
Understanding this information makes it possible to introduce the sports psychology curriculum into the context of physical therapy. Although many physical therapists are open to the possibilities of expanding their education, they often do not receive a formal education in applying psychological skills for rehabilitation.
Research has shown that athletic trainers and physical therapists have a positive attitude towards acquiring the psychological skills required to provide mental care to a patient.
Physical therapists will find rehabilitation to be a more positive experience overall if they incorporate psychological concepts and abilities into their daily contact with patients. Patients can heal as quickly as possible when they have access to the above talents. This is because, as part of the mental rehabilitation of recovery, such a program will be ideally integrated with a physical rehabilitation program.