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Insightful articles for helping permanently-sidelined athletes find a meaningful way forward.

Posts tagged TBI sports
Healthy Adjustment to Career-Ending Injury or Health Condition Part 4: The Rebuilding Phase

Sometimes difficult transitions can make treating yourself kindly even more challenging. Evaluating emotional responses and internal dialogues while proceeding to implement change can be a tiresome task, as discussed in our previous articles here and here. Despite its potential difficulty, the exercise of evaluating internal dialogues can impact powerful change. Once you have learned to “mind your mind” and create more healthy internal dialogues, you are ready to start rebuilding what was lost.

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Becoming Sidelined: Managing Negative Self-Talk

Being forced to retire from competing in a sport that you love is objectively heartbreaking. You’re allowed (even encouraged) to let yourself feel every negative emotion that comes with grieving the loss of a really important aspect of your life and identity. What remains important throughout this process though, is that you treat yourself with kindness and patience. You owe it to yourself to alter any internal-dialogues which threaten to convince you that these circumstances are more disastrous than you are strong.

As we begin to analyze our internal dialogues, we should be wary of unhelpful thought patterns that have manifested themselves so deeply that they impact our entire perception of the world, our experiences, and ourselves. These thoughts are not reality-based and overtime they are reinforced, resulting in biases, irrational thoughts, and groundless beliefs.

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6 Factors to Consider in Possible Sport Retirement Due to Brain Health Concerns

The decision to recommend athlete retirement due to concerns for brain health is not one to be taken lightly.  Several factors must be considered, as the removal from sport itself may lead to its own issues down the line, especially if the decision is made for the athlete instead of by or with the athlete.  Most athletes, especially one-sport athletes or those playing at an elite level, identify themselves heavily with their sport.  For this reason, forced retirement can have a significant impact on their overall wellbeing. 

As outlined below, there are several factors to consider when discussing possible retirement from sport due to brain health concerns. 

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