Please help me with my sports addiction
May 8, 2013 1:12 PM Subscribe
I am in physical rehab right now after having surgery from a chronic sports injury. I am a little antsy to say the least, I can't do sports, and I want to understand my addiction better. I googled and couldn't find any good resources, books, movies, forums, anything will help.
At this point I'm trying to AT LEAST make it to the end of my rehab (4 more months) without relapsing and going to play basketball and re-injuring myself.
To call it a sports addiction is interesting in a few ways. I'm not addicted to exercise. It's sports, like basketball, soccer, football etc.
And it may or may not be an "addiction" but I am strongly desiring to play sports with my friends, it's my favorite thing to do in the world, it's really fun.
I'm a former professional athlete, and I know some people will say take up new hobbies.. uh huh,..
Start with reading about sports psychology and injury.
You might benefit from a few sessions with someone, if reading about doesn't quite help.
posted by rtha at 1:25 PM on May 8, 2013
You might benefit from a few sessions with someone, if reading about doesn't quite help.
posted by rtha at 1:25 PM on May 8, 2013
Response by poster: It probably is not an addiction but I don't know what else to call it. I had this same surgery twice previously, and I didn't manage to rest the prescribed 6 months, and reinjured myself quickly when I went to play sports before my body was healed.
posted by crawltopslow at 1:38 PM on May 8, 2013
posted by crawltopslow at 1:38 PM on May 8, 2013
Response by poster: For clarification I don't watch much sports, I just like playing them.
posted by crawltopslow at 1:38 PM on May 8, 2013
posted by crawltopslow at 1:38 PM on May 8, 2013
I get super-antsy when I can't play sports. I had a pair of injuries early this year that forced me to cut out all my sports and most of my lifting cold turkey for several months. It was hard. People noticed the change in my personality. Years ago, it took me several years to get back into one sport because I kept re-injuring myself in the same way. In that case, the hard part was getting back into the sport *at less than full capacity*. I made it a point to tell everyone I was playing with, plus myself, that I was injured and to take it easy. Not once, but every time I went to practice. You might need something similar: remind yourself you're injured, you can't go back until X date, and even then you'll have to go back at a reduced level.
I've found two things about this addiction to *sports* rather than exercise: one, it's the competition. I found places to have vigorous discussions with people (politics! message boards! friends!), or play competitive board games. I took it as a challenge to learn a new skill. For me, it was a new programming language, but it could've been music or art.
Two, exercise still helps. I made it a project to find exercises I could do without even coming close to aggravating my injuries, and I worked those exercises hard. Hiking, yoga, and two or three work-around-my-injuries workout sessions helped a lot. (I was still able to do pull-ups and dips; I think anything where you see results over time and break a hard sweat will do the trick. Don't pick something that could aggravate the injury.)
As for the social side of things, I agree with rtha about looking into sports psychology. I'd add that making sure your social calendar is filled up might help keep you away from risking a return to sports.
posted by daveliepmann at 1:41 PM on May 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
I've found two things about this addiction to *sports* rather than exercise: one, it's the competition. I found places to have vigorous discussions with people (politics! message boards! friends!), or play competitive board games. I took it as a challenge to learn a new skill. For me, it was a new programming language, but it could've been music or art.
Two, exercise still helps. I made it a project to find exercises I could do without even coming close to aggravating my injuries, and I worked those exercises hard. Hiking, yoga, and two or three work-around-my-injuries workout sessions helped a lot. (I was still able to do pull-ups and dips; I think anything where you see results over time and break a hard sweat will do the trick. Don't pick something that could aggravate the injury.)
As for the social side of things, I agree with rtha about looking into sports psychology. I'd add that making sure your social calendar is filled up might help keep you away from risking a return to sports.
posted by daveliepmann at 1:41 PM on May 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
So what you're saying is that you keep re-injuring yourself playing basketball (or whatever), and then even though your physical therapist says you should lay off for six months, you get to about month four or five and say "oh, I feel fine, lemme try" and it just messes the same thing up?
That's kinda understandable, and not "addiction". Maybe chatting with a sports psychologist about to help you cope with the inactivity would help. But I do sympathize with that too - it's always hard to accept that "this is something my body always used to be able to do, what do you mean it can't do that right now?" I had that struggle myself several years ago recovering from surgery, about things that weren't even sports!
But a sports psychologist can probably help you mentally and emotionally deal with that temporary inactivity. Good luck.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:46 PM on May 8, 2013
That's kinda understandable, and not "addiction". Maybe chatting with a sports psychologist about to help you cope with the inactivity would help. But I do sympathize with that too - it's always hard to accept that "this is something my body always used to be able to do, what do you mean it can't do that right now?" I had that struggle myself several years ago recovering from surgery, about things that weren't even sports!
But a sports psychologist can probably help you mentally and emotionally deal with that temporary inactivity. Good luck.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:46 PM on May 8, 2013
This isn't my area at all but I think you might find some interesting literature on lifestyle changes in general - like, people switching to a no-carb diet, or ditching facebook. It seems like a better fit than 'addiction'?
posted by jacalata at 1:46 PM on May 8, 2013
posted by jacalata at 1:46 PM on May 8, 2013
Oh, and tell the friends you play with regularly to nag at you at be mean to you if you try to play before your PT gives you the green light. Maybe set up an agreement where if you play before you've been take off the DL, and especially if you reinjure yourself, you are responsible for buying ALL the beer at any post-game thing for some long period of time. Make peer pressure work for you!
posted by rtha at 1:49 PM on May 8, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by rtha at 1:49 PM on May 8, 2013 [3 favorites]
see if you can get into cycling during your off time? I had a long rehab after a knee injury, and cycling was the one activity I was able to do during that time. I didn't really think I'd enjoy it that much, because it doesn't have the same 'sportness' of a team-ball-sport, but I started to really enjoy it. Bonus: If I'm lucky I'll be able to do it well into my old-age without any real concern over joint/trauma injuries.
There are also ways to make it a bit more 'sporty', like by using strava (strava.com).
posted by cmyr at 1:52 PM on May 8, 2013
There are also ways to make it a bit more 'sporty', like by using strava (strava.com).
posted by cmyr at 1:52 PM on May 8, 2013
My username is Tumble. I've been waiting my entire MeFi career for this question.
I don't play video games when I'm uninjured. But every trip to the emergency room is followed by a stop for whatever the latest gaming console is. My right knee was the latest Ratchet and Clank game, left wrist was Gran Toursimo 5, and so on all the way back to the Dreamcast. It's a place to channel at least some of the energy while you heal.
Tell everybody that you've injured yourself, and what the timeline for recovery is. Let them help you stay off the court long enough to heal. Remember - you have to heal, take it easy, miss an entire season if you have to. Eat well, take your vitamins, and do all the physical therapy as prescribed. The goal is not to play this one season, but to play for another 20 or 30 years. Take care of your body, you only get one.
That, and learn to juggle. It's a new skill that transfers to most sports, and it's a new challenge. You can be just as obsessive about that as anything else - and you can juggle with one hand if you have to. Start with the book from Klutz, and then get a nice set of stage balls.
posted by tumble at 1:54 PM on May 8, 2013 [10 favorites]
I don't play video games when I'm uninjured. But every trip to the emergency room is followed by a stop for whatever the latest gaming console is. My right knee was the latest Ratchet and Clank game, left wrist was Gran Toursimo 5, and so on all the way back to the Dreamcast. It's a place to channel at least some of the energy while you heal.
Tell everybody that you've injured yourself, and what the timeline for recovery is. Let them help you stay off the court long enough to heal. Remember - you have to heal, take it easy, miss an entire season if you have to. Eat well, take your vitamins, and do all the physical therapy as prescribed. The goal is not to play this one season, but to play for another 20 or 30 years. Take care of your body, you only get one.
That, and learn to juggle. It's a new skill that transfers to most sports, and it's a new challenge. You can be just as obsessive about that as anything else - and you can juggle with one hand if you have to. Start with the book from Klutz, and then get a nice set of stage balls.
posted by tumble at 1:54 PM on May 8, 2013 [10 favorites]
As a juggler I heartily endorse tumble's suggestion.
As a fellow athletic type (my personal sport-of-choice being rock climbing), can you try to figure out which aspects of the sport you're missing?
For example, basketball provides some social time, while it also requires teamwork, speed, dexterity for ball handling skills, intellectual comprehension of how the game works (planning plays and defense and etc), aerobic capacity. It also requires an ability to quickly react (especially regarding changes of direction).
Which of these skills do you most enjoy doing when you play basketball? If it's about the social interaction while working towards a common goal, go volunteer with some friends. That works if it's competition with your friends too- or play video games against them. If it's about the speed or the aerobic capacity, can you run/swim/bike/ski instead? If it's about dexterity, juggling is perfect (or hey, even just do ball-handling tricks). If it's intellectual puzzling of the game, coach instead of playing. If you like the physical challenge, there are likely loads of other physically challenging activities that won't stress your particular problem-- you might ask your PT for some suggestions.
If it's about keeping up your game skills in a specific sport, that's harder; maybe you can work the parts of your body that aren't injured in another way to keep them strong, or work on related skills (e.g. ball handling/aim/whatnot).
Of course part of the problem here is if your friends are all out playing football, you're going to want to join, and a replacement activity won't fix that feeling. Be sure to still go out and grab beer with them afterwards even if you can't play; new hobbies and alternate activities are all well and good but you will miss your mates if they don't get interested in New Thing too.
Oh lastly I think there's another issue here- your body is used to a certain amount of physical exertion, and taking that away feels bad physically. You might be sleeping less well, or able to focus less, or (like me when I can't climb) just a big hug grouch. Definitely stress to your PT that strenuous physical activity is something you're used to and you want ideas of activities that won't hurt your particular injury that you can try.
posted by nat at 3:19 PM on May 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
As a fellow athletic type (my personal sport-of-choice being rock climbing), can you try to figure out which aspects of the sport you're missing?
For example, basketball provides some social time, while it also requires teamwork, speed, dexterity for ball handling skills, intellectual comprehension of how the game works (planning plays and defense and etc), aerobic capacity. It also requires an ability to quickly react (especially regarding changes of direction).
Which of these skills do you most enjoy doing when you play basketball? If it's about the social interaction while working towards a common goal, go volunteer with some friends. That works if it's competition with your friends too- or play video games against them. If it's about the speed or the aerobic capacity, can you run/swim/bike/ski instead? If it's about dexterity, juggling is perfect (or hey, even just do ball-handling tricks). If it's intellectual puzzling of the game, coach instead of playing. If you like the physical challenge, there are likely loads of other physically challenging activities that won't stress your particular problem-- you might ask your PT for some suggestions.
If it's about keeping up your game skills in a specific sport, that's harder; maybe you can work the parts of your body that aren't injured in another way to keep them strong, or work on related skills (e.g. ball handling/aim/whatnot).
Of course part of the problem here is if your friends are all out playing football, you're going to want to join, and a replacement activity won't fix that feeling. Be sure to still go out and grab beer with them afterwards even if you can't play; new hobbies and alternate activities are all well and good but you will miss your mates if they don't get interested in New Thing too.
Oh lastly I think there's another issue here- your body is used to a certain amount of physical exertion, and taking that away feels bad physically. You might be sleeping less well, or able to focus less, or (like me when I can't climb) just a big hug grouch. Definitely stress to your PT that strenuous physical activity is something you're used to and you want ideas of activities that won't hurt your particular injury that you can try.
posted by nat at 3:19 PM on May 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh I meant to say that you might have to give up some aspects of the sport, e.g. quick changes of direction are kind of impossible with certain knee injuries. But maybe you can get most of the aspects in other ways.
posted by nat at 3:20 PM on May 8, 2013
posted by nat at 3:20 PM on May 8, 2013
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Unless I'm misunderstanding what behavior you're doing that is leading you to call it an addiction. Are you saying that becase you keep trying to play some games when you know you shouldn't? If that's the case - that may be just a mental hangup of not having quite accepted your body has new limits on it right now that it didn't use to. That's tough and a bummer, but it's not as such an "addiction". It is something that should be addressed, though (I'd talk to your physical therapist about how to deal with the emotional side of that; maybe there's a sports psychologist they could refer you to).
Or are you saying that this is "an addiction" because you are hanging around the ESPN chat boards and checking the scores and discussing things? Unless that's interfering with work, that could be a way to live vicariously through others.
I guess I'm just not clear what actual behavior you're doing that's leading you to say that you're "addicted."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:19 PM on May 8, 2013