There is no doubt that suffering a serious injury can be life-changing. People who lose a limb in a crash, damage their spinal cord in a fall, go blind due to eye trauma or experience other types of disabling injuries can go from being completely independent to needing considerable assistance in a matter of seconds.
There is no easy way to approach recovery in these situations. People will have to make significant adjustments to their lifestyles and this can be extremely different and unpredictable. However, there are a few ways that people can make the recover process a little bit easier on themselves.
- Ask for help when you need it: Disabling injuries have the potential to dramatically change what you can and cannot do on your own. While you are recovering from an injury or adjusting to new limitations, it can be crucial to ask for help. This doesn’t have to mean asking someone to do something for you, it could mean asking people to show you different ways to do something or help you understand more about your condition.
- Focus on your mental health: The emotional and psychological toll of a disabling injury can be enormous. Many people struggle with depression, anxiety, fear, hopelessness and anger on a regular basis. While these emotions are completely common, they may not do much in the way of helping you recover physically. You should take your mental health seriously and consider outlets like meditation, therapy and stress management tools to help improve your mental state.
- Seek out the resources available: You may already be aware of the considerable medical and physical resources that you can access, but don’t forget about the financial resources available. As this article notes, many victims of a disabling injury qualify for support through programs like Social Security disability or Supplemental Security Income. Receiving these benefits can provide critical financial assistance as your recover from your injury.
Coping with a disabling injury is never easy. However, if people take these three suggestions into consideration, hopefully they will be able to alleviate some of the frustration and stress associated with these types of injuries.