I have been dealing with depression, anxiety and panic for most of my 43 years of life. I recently broke my ankle and my depression is at an all time high. I am in complete mental agony over the fact that I am unable to walk. I get paniced and anxious hundreds of times daily. Has anyone else been through this? Is this a normal feeling with a broke leg? Also, I have a prescription for prozac that I was given a while back that I never took. Would prozac help me through this?
It's not specific to breaking a leg, but a very normal reaction to being hurt and/or debilitated in any way. I've been hurt and unable to walk, or do things like get dressed, for 7 years now and I've learned a thing or two about what happens to the mind when you're debilitated. You're vulnerable, basically, and considering you were already anxious before, it makes total sense that being vulnerable and having less control over things, would make you more anxious. Your injury has put you in a situation where you rely on other people for more things than you did before. That can be very difficult for ones mental state, because it will kick up feelings you probably had some control over when you were well. Relying on others is a scary thing, because it's so completely out of our hands. And it's totally normal to feel that way.
I would suggest doing things like watch a lot of movies and/or play a lot of video games right now. I have found distraction really helpful for taking my mind away from my physical body. I also found music to have the opposite effect. It makes me feel my physical body more and in turn makes me feel worse about my situation. Distraction can be very useful for this kind of thing, especially if pain is involved.
Absolutely normal to feel nasty emotional side effects of being injured. For me, I rely on exercise to keep my brain chemistry normal, so it's a double whammy.
One thing that helped was finding SOME exercise that I could do. I lifted weights and did boxing drills while seated, and it made me stronger and kept inactivity from messing with my brain chemistry.
Definitely, don't be afraid to ask your doctor for help. Antidepressants may help a lot, and they can actually reduce pain, too.
The Following User Says Thank You to janewhite1 For This Useful Post: damz68 (09-03-2012)
My depression always goes through the roof when I am sick. Doesn't matter what kind of sick -- once when I broke my ankle, whenever I am down with my asthma, and most recently with mono. Even a good flu will make my depression worse.
The Following User Says Thank You to SOE For This Useful Post: damz68 (09-03-2012)
Yes, I broke my leg and ankle at the same time in my forties. I was in a full leg cast for nine months. Bones heal very well, it is the mind that sometimes needs more time. Yes I believe prozac might help but get a doctor to give you a new prescription.
It's not specific to breaking a leg, but a very normal reaction to being hurt and/or debilitated in any way. I've been hurt and unable to walk, or do things like get dressed, for 7 years now and I've learned a thing or two about what happens to the mind when you're debilitated. You're vulnerable, basically, and considering you were already anxious before, it makes total sense that being vulnerable and having less control over things, would make you more anxious. Your injury has put you in a situation where you rely on other people for more things than you did before. That can be very difficult for ones mental state, because it will kick up feelings you probably had some control over when you were well. Relying on others is a scary thing, because it's so completely out of our hands. And it's totally normal to feel that way.
I would suggest doing things like watch a lot of movies and/or play a lot of video games right now. I have found distraction really helpful for taking my mind away from my physical body. I also found music to have the opposite effect. It makes me feel my physical body more and in turn makes me feel worse about my situation. Distraction can be very useful for this kind of thing, especially if pain is involved.
Everything you said is so true, even the music. It does tend to make me feel worse. I think a lot of my problems were related to the pain killers. When I did not take them on time I would feel horrible with cold sweats and bad anxiety. All those symptoms disappeared 40 minutes after taking pain meds. I decided to rough it out for a few days by quitting the pain meds. I am starting to feel better but not as good as I felt after poping a pill. No wonder so many people get hooked on those!
Yes, I broke my leg and ankle at the same time in my forties. I was in a full leg cast for nine months. Bones heal very well, it is the mind that sometimes needs more time. Yes I believe prozac might help but get a doctor to give you a new prescription.
Nine months, that is awful. After breaking my ankle, I was in a cast for two weeks. I broke all three bones and dislocated. The two weeks was for the swelling to go down so the could do surgery. After surgery I was put in a cast for one week. They took that cast off and put me in a walking cast. I am only to use walking cast when I am up moving around. I have to take cast off when I am sitting or sleeping, elevate and put ice on. That first night sleeping without anything protecting my leg was scary! I can not put any weight on the foot for three weeks. I am also suppose to move foot back and forth, side to side. I think I am progressing pretty well, it feels so good to take that cast off. In two more weeks I will get x-rays. If things look good I get to start putting weight on it again.
