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Injuries, accidents, and other medical issues are part of life. However, when you are recovering from them, it is very important to address both your physical and mental healing.

From a traumatic brain injury treatment to recovering from a fracture, you need to focus on how this injury or this phase of life has affected you emotionally and mentally. A lot of times, people forget the importance of recovering mentally because such events affect your state of mind more than you might realize. 

Besides, avoiding recovering mentally due to your physical injuries can have long-term effects on your life because complete healing goes far beyond just your physical state. A lot of people who physically go through such occurrences, tend to become afraid of reinjury or face post-traumatic stress when doing any physically demanding like playing a sport, exercising or driving according to how they were initially injured. 

Some other ways it can affect you are through insomnia, anger issues, and change in appetite. While exercising, endorphins are released in your brain, which makes you feel better and gives a bit of a high. However, if you are not allowed or able to exercise, you may easily get depressed, irritable, and lose motivation to watch your diet. A lot of people tend to eat too much or too little or eat very unhealthy foods. 

Hence, to avoid or limit these sides effect of recovering from injury, you must focus on your mental recovery just as seriously. There are several ways you can stay positive during this time and focus on your mental recovery. Let’s get to the list of ten things you can do to boost your emotional and mental recovery from an injury.

Change your perspective 

The first step has to be working on your perception of the injury and the recovery. Divert the time and energy that you would normally focus on working out to your recovery. 

It may take a while, but make sure to keep reminding yourself that even if you are resting and recovering it does not mean that you are not being productive. Don’t be too hard on yourself and try to understand as resting allows you to heal and get back on your feet, it is a productive use of your time. 

Maintain a journal 

Keeping a journal helps a lot of people managing pain. If you worry too much about your injury or re-injury when you are in pain, try to keep a journal of all these feelings. You can include things like when you face aches or pain, what are the trigger points, how long they last, and how they get better when you feel pain. 

This can help you regain your confidence, and understand that it is going to end at one point. Besides, keeping a pain journal also sometimes makes it easy for your doctor to track your progress. 

Set realistic goals for yourself 

The time you are recovering from the injury is very important for how this entire episode affects your life in the future. Hence, it is important that you set new, smaller, and realistic goals for yourself and your progress. This way, when you achieve your goals, you can feel happy and celebrate them as they come true. This also works wonders in helping you stay motivated and going for the next goal.

Focus on the things you can control

Focusing on things you cannot control will only make this journey more difficult for you. Whether it’s neurology in San Antonio or any other treatment you are going through for your physical recovery, they are going to take time and it is not much you can control here. 

However, you can control your diet, your fluid intake, and eating healthier food that helps you recover faster. After some time and discussing with your doctor, you can include some alternative ways to exercise. For example, if you have an arm injury, you can do some basic leg exercises. Hence, try to focus on what you can do instead of what you cannot. 

Find a hobby 

Depending on the intensity of your injuries, you can take any time like days, weeks, or even months to recover. Hence, it is important to keep yourself entertained during this time. Keeping up a new hobby is a great way to keep your energy levels up. Cooking, reading, or starting a DIY project, look for something you can enjoy doing.

Meditate

Finding a way, you can channel the stress away is the best thing you can do. If you find yourself obsessing about not being able to heal as quickly as you would like, take some time off and practice meditation. 

Worrying too much will only take your progress backward. Instead, try sitting still and alone, concentrating on your breathing, it tends to calm your nervous system, help you stay positive, and reduce stress. If you have been doing meditation from before the injury, it will be even easier to follow through with this tip. 

Keep up with the rehab program

The journey of recovering physically and mentally is different for everyone and some people use extra help to do this smoothly. That is why keep reminding yourself that even though doing more rehab than you are recommended by the professional might not make your recover faster, but doing less than what is recommended will slow down your progress. 

Hence, don’t shy away from the rehab and stick to what is working for you, and what is helping for even longer is absolutely necessary.

Do not isolate yourself 

During your recovery, you can use as much support as you can get. Hence, try to maintain your normal social life as much as possible. If you are continuing to regularly communicate with and socialize with your close friends and family, you are less likely to feel as down about the injury. 

Besides, a strong support system also helps in keeping you motivated towards your health and wellness. 

Stay positive 

It is very important to remember that it might take a long time but you will one day get better and the injury will be healed. If you follow through with the recommended treatment plan, don’t rush yourself, and give your body the fuel it needs to completely recover, and eventually, you won’t be injured anymore. And finally, you can get back to your normal routine, doing things that you enjoy the most. 

Practice patience 

No one wants to stay injured, but healing takes time. Make sure to take time to think about what this time has allowed you to do. Try to exercise patience and gratitude. Trying to look for something positive during this time will give you the strength to keep going forward. You may even find yourself enjoying the small things like some time off from work and catching up with your family, friends, or old hobbies like reading or watching movies. 

How you pass this time and what this time represents in your life ultimately depends on you. An overall positive outlook allows you to not only try to recover faster but also helps you to change your perspective of life beyond the injury.