Recently I suffered a pretty bad back injury while playing rugby in New Zealand, and it left me in a really bad place, I found myself in hospital and even after I’d recovered physically it took me a while to recover from it mentally. I used to suffer from reoccurring dreams where I don’t have any legs and I had a panic attack at school a few weeks ago. My physical condition wasn’t very good, and I found that this really had an effect on my mental health too, but I decided that it wasn’t going to get the better of me.
I’m a very fit and active person, and I felt like my mental health was suffering for being inactive for so long, so I decided that I was going to get back on my feet, even though it scared me and easy movements hurt a lot. Initially I felt insecure and anxious because I felt like I couldn’t do anything, but I can walk unassisted now, despite being given a very long recovery period by the doctors. I started talking about my pain and my parents helped me push through and get back into exercising, even if the movements were small. They supported me mentally and physically, and helped me get the doctors and physiotherapists that I needed. I managed to help myself too by learning that if I don’t do anything then it’s not going to get any better. I realised that I couldn’t keep feeling sorry for myself. To try and get myself into a better place I started doing these little exercises because I figured that the more feeling I could get into my body then the better my mental health and happiness would be. I feel like exercising has really helped me to get into a better frame of mind, because I don’t see myself as being less able anymore.
What’s your advice for other young people?
Don’t hide your feelings. As soon as you can, try and do as much as you can, especially exercising, no matter how hard it is. Don’t stay sat down at home all day, make sure you’re always doing something.
