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I have a lot of running books and since being injured, I’ve been reading what they all say about injuries. I came across a section that Dr. Tim Noakes says about responses to injury in his book “Lore of Running“. I thought I would share that section….
Typical Response to Injury
All athletes, regardless of personality, will go through a similar pattern of response to injury:
- DENIAL: At first, the athlete refuses to accept that the injury has occurred and simply denies its possibility. Examples of runners who ran to their deaths, denying that they could possibly have heart disease, are detailed in chapter 5
- ANGER (rage): When the injury can no longer be denied, the athlete becomes enraged and blames either the doctor, a spouse, or some third party for the injury. Occasionally, athletes will blame their bodies for this betrayal and may even subject it to further abuse, for example, by continuing to run.
- DEPRESSION: When denial and rage no longer work, the athlete moves on to the (penultimate) stage of depression
- ACCEPTANCE: Finally, the athlete learns to accept the injury and to modify ambition to accomodate the inadquacies of the mortal body. When this occurs, the athlete is likely to be overt the injury
He goes on to say……
I am uncertain whether it is possible to increase the speed at which the athlete progresses from denial to acceptance. But understading that the process is quite normal is usually helpful.
I can certainly confirm that I’ve gone through all these stages with my recent injury and it’s only in the last few days I’ve come to accept it.
Posted by derek as Injury at 3:41 PM PST