6 Oct 2022
How an Accident or Injury can Affect our Mental Health
An accident or injury can be a life changing event and it can have a huge impact on your client mentally as well as physically. Humans tend to have an “it won’t happen to me” mentality where statistics on disease and debilitating conditions only affect other people, but the sad fact is that anyone can find themselves in a position they never thought they’d be in, and if that happens, it can take a huge toll on their mental health.
With World Mental Health Day taking place today, we’ve taken a closer look at the impact an injury or condition can have on someone’s mental health, and how Speed Medical can help in the physical and mental recovery process.
What is Trauma?
According to the Mental Health Foundation, trauma is described as events that “put you or someone close to you at risk of serious harm or death.” These events may include an accident, a violent attack, domestic abuse, and long-term illness.
Trauma has a physical effect – a racing heart, difficulty catching your breath, feeling sick, shaking, or feeling faint are all things that can happen to us when we experience trauma. Usually, these physical symptoms are short-lived and pass fairly quickly following a traumatic event.
Mentally, however, trauma is not such a fleeing thing. Although our bodies begin to heal physically after an accident or following treatment for a disease, our mental health can take just as much, or often more work to treat.
Mental Health Decline following an Accident, Injury or Diagnosis
Following a life-changing event, people can suffer from PTSD, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, problems sleeping, and a host of other mental health problems which won’t go away without the help and support of a professional.
Normalising seeking help for our mental health is incredibly important, and although as a society we are far better at addressing mental health concerns than we used to be, we still have a long way to go before we’re as comfortable with fixing our mental health as we are at seeing GP if we have an infection or going to A&E if we break our wrist.
Many people say that following an incident such a diagnosis of a life-long condition, their mental health begins to suffer. Why? Because life will probably never be the same again and that is an enormous thing for someone to try to come to terms with. Perhaps they are physically unable to do the things they used to do, maybe they have to take medication for the rest of their life that doesn’t make them feel great, their concentration might be affected by an injury, focusing on conversations may have become more difficult, having a glass of wine is suddenly a no-no. Any big change to the life someone has spent years creating is going to take time and help to deal with.
How Speed Medical Can Help
Having a healthcare provider that can take care of every aspect of your client’s recovery journey, from diagnostics and testing, to treatment and rehabilitation, as well as mental health support and psychiatric help, will streamline the entire recovery process and ensure the most efficient service for you and your client.
Our panel of medical experts and internal teams have knowledge and experience within personal injury, capacity assessments and employment law, enabling us to provide a complete range of services to assist with your case. From medico legal reports through to physiotherapy services and surgical procedures, we're here to support you and your clients every step of the way.
By outsourcing your requirements for mental health assessments and treatment to Speed Medical, we will assist your clients in providing efficient access to the services they require. Delivering over 10,000 psychological and psychiatric assessments and treatment sessions each year, we are well versed in the co-ordination of mental health related services.
If you would like to talk to our experienced and knowledgeable team about any of our services, please get in touch today.
