Stronger Than Before: How Talking About Your Injury Can Help You Recover

An injury can feel like a complete backslide, but that doesn’t mean you have nothing to gain while you’re on the sidelines. According to researchers from St. Mary’s University, talking out your emotions after getting hurt can make it easier to move past the negative and come back stronger.

The study compared how talking, writing or staying silent about these emotions affected one’s sport-injury-related growth, a concept that encompasses the good that can come out of injuries: things like being more resilient, becoming physically stronger and having improved relationships. Of the participating athletes, those who talked about their feelings experienced the most growth.

While your instinct might be to keep the moping to a minimum, vocalizing your feelings to a friend, family member, teacher or therapist can provide an emotional outlet. If you’re shy about talking with someone, researchers found that speaking into a voice recorder works too.