Life Strains Cause Ankle Sprains

Stepped on a pebble while jogging and twisted your ankle? You're
not the only weekend warrior hobbling to the emergency room: Each year
sprains and other injuries temporarily sideline nearly half of amateur
athletes, experts say. But these injuries may be due to more than just
bad luck or insufficient stretching. Since the early 1970s, at least 18
studies have found that athletes who have experienced recent life
stress—anything from hassles at work to the death of a loved one—are
two to five times more likely to suffer injuries on the playing field
than their less-pressured counterparts, notes University of Arizona
sports psychologist Dean Williams, Ph.D. In one study, for example, 73
percent of college football players who had endured high stress levels in
the previous year suffered injuries during the season, compared to only
30 percent of those who'd experienced little stress. Similar findings
have been reported in sports ranging from soccer to race walking.

Stress probably increases the odds of injury in several ways, notes
Williams. Overly stressed athletes are less likely to notice potentially
harmful objects in their peripheral vision—like that pebble on the
jogging track—and more likely to focus on irrelevant cues. And anxious
athletes tend to simultaneously tense opposing muscles, such as the
biceps and triceps, causing premature tiring and increasing the risk of
injury.

The irony to all this, of course, is that exercise is an
oft-prescribed method for handling stress. So what can weekend athletes
do to stay injury-free when work or family pressures build?
Unfortunately, researchers have only begun to test the effectiveness of
injury-prevention strategies. But Williams suggests several approaches
that may help, including practicing meditation or mental relaxation
skills; taking antianxiety medication; encouraging team members to
support each other in times of stress; and learning to ignore
distractions.