Can back injuries pose a threat to your mental health?

When dealing with a back injury from a car crash, it is easy to only focus on the potential physical impacts and how they manifest.

However, the path to recovery does not only involve physical health. It also involves mental health.

Ties between mental struggles and chronic pain

The International Association for the Study of Pain discusses potential threats to a sufferer of back injury in the process of healing. Of course, while many of these threats are physical in nature, there are plenty of mental repercussions for severe injury, too.

Studies over the years have painted a clear tie between chronic pain and severe mental health issues like depression, anxiety or even post-traumatic stress disorder. Unfortunately, back injuries have a high rate of developing chronic pain in the aftermath, too.

Understanding life with chronic pain

Chronic pain is an umbrella term referring to any pain that lasts for an extended period of time. In some sufferers, it might come and go in waves, but never completely stop. In others, the pain might be a constant sensation that the sufferer never gets a break from.

When faced with days, weeks or even months of constant or near-constant pain, the mental toll it takes on a person can be enormous. This is mentally and physically exhausting and can lead to numerous ill effects in a sufferer’s life.

For example, many chronic pain sufferers will see their social life begin to crumble due to their lack of energy. Others might even risk their job because they are physically and mentally incapable of fulfilling their duties and tasks.

Thus, back injury sufferers have to deal with numerous ill effects due to their pain.