Injury Recovery in Cromwell: Why Anxiety Hits Hard (and How to Stop Feeding It)
Here’s the thing nobody really tells you about getting injured: it’s not just your body that cops it. Your head does too.
All of a sudden you’re not training, you’re not moving the way you used to, and your brain goes off on one. What if this never gets better? What if I lose all my fitness? Who even am I if I can’t run, lift, or play sport?
Sound familiar? That’s anxiety talking. And when you’re injured, it feels like it’s shouting through a megaphone.
The Sneaky Little Signs Anxiety’s Creeping In
It’s not always a big panic attack. More often it looks like:
Lying awake at night, replaying worst-case scenarios
That gut-knot before you even attempt moving again
Snapping at people because you’re restless and frustrated
Falling down a Google rabbit hole until you’re convinced it’s something catastrophic
That guilty voice: “I should be doing more… but I can’t”
It’s normal. But if you don’t spot it early, it starts running the show.
Losing Your “Thing”
A lot of anxiety after injury is about identity. If you’ve always been the runner, the CrossFitter, the strong one — and suddenly you can’t do that — it feels like you’ve lost part of yourself.
And that gap? Anxiety loves to fill it with: If I’m not that person, who even am I?
When Life Takes Over (and Not in a Good Way)
Here’s a sneaky one. You stop training, so you throw yourself into work or family life. It feels productive, right?
The problem: hours at a desk, zero movement, and “I’m too busy” becomes the perfect excuse to skip your rehab. Sure, you’re busy… but your body knows better.
The Boom/Bust Rollercoaster
This one’s classic. You feel good, so you go hard: Yes, I’m back!
Then you flare up. Square one. Cue anxiety whispering: Told you so. You can’t trust your body.
That cycle is exhausting. And it’s anxiety’s favourite food.
How Anxiety Gets Fed
Usually it plays out like this:
Avoiding rehab → You feel relief short term, but your brain learns “yep, dangerous, avoid it again.”
Overdoing it → You flare up, then your brain screams “see, worse now, can’t trust yourself.”
And round and round you go.
The Real Skill: Separate Feelings From Actions
You can’t switch anxiety off. But you can stop it calling the shots.
Feeling nervous: “What if this hurts?” → Do one set, lighter than usual.
Feeling hopeless: “I’ll never get back.” → Tick off 10 minutes of rehab.
Feeling too busy: “Work’s been huge.” → Do one small thing today, not nothing.
Emotions are allowed in the car. They just don’t get to drive.
You’ll Mess It Up (and That’s Okay)
Here’s the truth: you will get this wrong. You’ll skip a session, push too hard, talk yourself out of it.
That’s not failure. That’s practice. Every time you catch yourself, you’re building the muscle of separating what you feel from what you do.
The Takeaway
Anxiety loves injury recovery because it thrives on uncertainty and that boom/bust rollercoaster. But it only grows when you feed it — by avoiding, or by overdoing.
You can’t always control the feelings. But you can control the actions. And those steady, boring, repeatable actions? That’s what gets you better.
So next time your brain’s spiralling, remember:
👉 Anxiety can yell from the back seat, but you’re still the one driving.
