Mental Health: The Hardest Sports Injury To Recover From

By: Rory Cox, Class II

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The camera pans to a team's star player, grimacing in pain, while the broadcast team hurriedly announces, "They're down on the floor and are trying to shake it off, but they aren't getting back up." As fans react to the injury, the athlete is processing in real time, not only the physical pain rapidly overtaking them, but also the anxiety beginning to creep into their minds. With such few people getting to play in the world's most successful leagues, like the NBA or NFL, anything that could jeopardize a player's career is a cause for stress, and injury is often the biggest of these stressors. 

Physical injuries have become more common across the globe, no matter the sport. According to a report conducted by CNN, since COVID-19, injuries in the MLB have doubled, the NFL has seen significant spikes in injuries, and the NBA has seen injured players collectively miss the most amount of playoff games in league history. With cases of serious injuries surging, star athletes have begun to speak out about how it has affected them mentally during the healing process and once they resume playing, if they even get the chance. While most fans at home slowly forget about these injuries and lose interest while waiting for affected players to return, the players’ real recovery work begins.

Daniel Hudson had been one of the top relief pitchers in the MLB before his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL), a ligament in the elbow connecting the forearm to the upper arm bone, snapped. This is a common injury amongst MLB pitchers, and its recovery process is mind-numbing. Hudson had just completed his year-long rehabilitation from the surgery that fixed his UCL, and immediately tore his recovered ligament. Writer Jeff Passan details how Hudson successfully rehabilitated his arm for a second time, but only after 18 months of grueling workouts that he felt "reduced" him. Hudson’s wife, Sara Hudson, gave insight to Passan about Hudson’s mental state at the time, describing how he would lock himself in his room to play video games all day, barely interacting with anyone. Through his difficult recovery, Hudson's confidence and security – two things which are vital for an athlete to perform at their highest levels – took a huge hit. 

Another example of the mental toll that injuries can take on athletes comes from two time NBA champion Kevin Durant. In 2019, in a playoff game against the Toronto Raptors, Durant suffered one of the most infamous injuries in the sports world: the Achilles tear. When asked about this incident in an interview conducted by Basketball Network, Durant recalled, “Right when it did [happen], I’m like damn, I knew exactly what it was. I was nervous ‘cause you hear about that injury, you hear that’s career ending.” Durant continued to explain his thought process as he was transported to the locker room in order for the medical staff to examine his leg, stating, “You’re never going to be the same, or you’re done…it was tough to go through.” At this time Durant had been in the NBA for 11 years, and had solidified himself as a superstar, yet there were talks of him becoming a role player, also known as a sub, due to the severity of his injury. The negative media coverage and his own unavoidable doubts slowly ate away at his mental health, and he hit a severe low point. However, Durant managed to persevere through the challenges he faced, and even today he continues to be one of the most dominant players in the NBA today.

Both Hudson and Durant are examples of rare success stories when it comes to injury in sports. They are part of the lucky few, as most players facing similar injuries tend to be forced into an upsetting early retirement. 

No matter what level an athlete performs at, injury is always a very mentally challenging obstacle to face. Specifically, student athletes at TBLS already manage a rigorous workload along with participating in their respective sport, and one injury can drastically impact their daily lives and scholastic performance.

Frandy Veras, a Class III discip and position player for the Gaynor Campus baseball team, the Gaynor Gators, explained what he went through when he broke his finger, which caused him to miss the entire baseball season in 8th grade. Frandy began by saying, “It was so stupid that it happened in the first place, I was playing football with my friends in the middle of baseball season and I wasn’t thinking about the potential consequences, two months gone just like [that].” Frandy expanded on this, stating that baseball was his favorite sport and he regretted being so careless. "I just wanted to get back out there and help my team,” he said. Frandy recalls how he rushed his recovery, rejoining the team before he was ready. In his hurry to heal, his team ended up losing a tournament, and he was left with another setback in his recovery process. 

Jonathan Landau, a Class II varsity basketball player, had seen many of his peers fall victim to a common, yet painful injury: the sprained ankle. Up until sophomore year, Jonathan's injury track record was perfect. That is, until he sprained his ankle one Saturday during a spring league basketball game just outside of school. Jonathan described what he felt in the moment he injured himself, stating, “Everything, voices asking if you are okay, the sound of people walking toward you, and the referee blowing the whistle to signal a timeout, all of it is barely audible when you feel that kind of pain shoot up through your foot and into your whole body.” This stoked an already growing anxiety around injury and caused Jonathan to stop playing basketball all together for a long time. He continued, “I would get shots up from time to time, but I was terrified of playing in a game because I didn’t want to go through something like that again. The doctor said three weeks, but I took two and a half months off.” Jonathan said in hindsight he sees how this was overdoing it, and says he has grown from this experience to be more proactive and stay in charge of his physical and mental health.

Injuries will continue to happen to athletes all over the world and impact their day-to-day lives. It is important to show support for people who are faced with injury, athlete or otherwise, and to provide relief from the pressures and mental challenges that come with being injured. Injuries are not just a physical setback, and we are still learning every day just how deeply they can impact people – especially people who rely on their physical fitness for their career.