Mind and Body

I found out this week that my project may be a lot harder that I originally thought.  I am attempting to combine the sciences, biology and anatomy, with a soft science, psychology.  Psychology is a soft science because it is different for almost every person, though there are some universal themes.  Psychology also has a lot of confounding variables that are difficult to take all into account.  For example, some aspects of psychology that affect just the recovery process are the support of family and friends, the was you see yourself, your level of optimism, your financial situation, your goals, and many other things.  There are a lot of factors, and I am trying to see holistically how much they affect the physical recovery of someone.

But even with this challenge I am determined to find some kind of answer.  I truly think that psychology has a huge impact of how a person can recover physically.  I have found multiple sources that hint at this correlation, but most are either from solely physical or psychological perspective.

I find my whole project interesting because from everything I have seen and a lot of sources I have found there seems to be relatively no emphasis on the mind.  It is all physical.  But I guess that should be expected because we are in a physical world.  We enjoy watching sweaty guys tackle other sweaty guys for fun.  We've only recently begun to even care about their mental health and the diseases the players can get from playing football.

One of my friends got a really really severe concussion.  One of her first concerns with her concussion was whether she would be able to play lacrosse this season.  She came back to school after about 4 weeks of staying at home in a dark room doing nothing.  She also began to go to lacrosse practice and games.  She has missed school since because it still hurts her to think sometimes.  But there is so much pressure to be well enough to play, that she sometimes ignores warning signs.  She wants to be back to normal and is persistent on getting fully recovered.  But is she physically ready to begin again?  Where is the balance between the mental and physical?

It is the balance of the mind and body.  And spirit.  We need to be able to balance these and not emphasize one more than another because that does not make a healthy person.  Is it harder to balance these than some people think?  Should there be more programs that make sure all these aspects are met and not just one?  How much does one truly help or hurt the other?  I hope to answer some of these questions and I am excited to continue my research.