What Are Helpful Coping Strategies After a Catastrophic Injury?

After suffering a catastrophic injury, you must focus on your mental recovery with the same dedication and attention as your physical recovery. What aspects of your mental and emotional health should you concentrate on?

The American Psychiatric Association explores healthy coping strategies for those involved in traumatic events. Recovering mentally may help you recover physically.

Tend to The Basics

Now is the time to focus on meeting your fundamental needs. Ensure that you eat healthy meals, exercise if your injury allows, get adequate sleep and get some fresh air. You do not need to go to great lengths to elevate and stabilize your mood.

Ground Yourself

Even if you do not feel overwhelmed or out of sorts, anxiety and stress may simmer underneath the surface. Rather than wait until dips in your mood hit, get ahead of them by engaging in meditation, breathing exercises and self-compassion. Do not forget the healing and calming power of music.

Step Away from Bad Habits

To make it easier to cope with the effects of your catastrophic ordeal, you may drink, use drugs or smoke. While these coping mechanisms may offer short-term relief, they do more harm than good in the long run. After a serious injury, you must try to take proper care of your body to support your recovery.

Research Breakthroughs in Recovery

Depending on your prognosis, you could experience despair about your future. Rather than wallow in negative emotions, help bring a bit of balance to your life by researching scientific and medical breakthroughs related to your injury. With this tip, only use reliable sources for your information.

Pay close attention to the thoughts and feelings that bubble to the surface of your mind in the coming days and weeks. Physical injuries may bring about psychological harm.