The Mental Side of Surgery and Recovery: Interview With Dr. Warren Reich

Getting injured, surgery, and the process of recovery, to put it mildly, is psychologically draining. It involves a loss in a multiplicity of facets of life. One form of this loss is feeling at a loss when it comes to what to do mentally when preparing for when we have become injured, are preparing for surgery, or are going through the recovery process. Recently, I spoke to social psychologist Dr. Warren Reich. He is currently a professor at Hunter College and has published work on identity and well-being, mental health, and youth-crime recidivism. He holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in social psychology. Dr. Reich had beneficial insights. However, it has been some time since he has looked at the literature/research that has been done on the psychological factors that go into surgery, injuries, and recovery. Here are a few important practical takeaways from the psychological literature before getting into the interview:

Recovery-Stress Balance:

Specifically for athletes, injury is often seen as the accumulation of physiological stress. This is the reason why athletes deload, take days off and prioritize sleep and nutrition. However, stress is stress. Psychological stress and physiological stress are synergistic in their effect on the body because psychological stress elicits a physiological…