Mental Health and injury risk

Mental health significantly impacts an athlete's injury rate through increased risk and poorer outcomes, as factors like stress, anxiety, and depression can lead to physiological and behavioral changes that increase susceptibility to injury. Athletes with preexisting mental-health disorders (or symptoms like high anxiety, mood disturbance) have increased risk of sustaining injuries. For example, higher preseason anxiety is linked with significantly greater injury rates, even after adjusting for exposure, body mass index, history of injury, etc. After injury occurs, mental-health issues contribute to worse outcomes: longer recovery times, higher likelihood of reinjury, lower chance of returning to sport (or returning at prior level), and diminished performance upon return. For instance, In one study of ACL reconstruction patients, those with higher levels of fear were 13 times more likely to suffer a second ACL tear within two years of returning to sports than those who were less fearful. Overall, recognizing and treating mental-health concerns is essential for preventing injury and improving post-injury outcomes, calling for more integrated mental-health screening and support within sports medicine.

Want to learn more? Check out this podcast episode by Prisma Health on how sports injuries impact mental health

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