Psychological wellbeing for people with a severe injury

Following a severe injury, your psychological wellbeing is just as important as your physical health.

You and your family may experience a range of emotional reactions and major life changes after a severe injury.

Feelings of sadness, grief and despair are a common reaction to the change in lifestyle and relationships that may occur.

These feelings usually get better over time as you adjust to the injury and the changes that come with it.

    Psychological supports

  • What we can pay for

    If you’re a Lifetime Care participant or worker in the Workers Care Program, we can pay for psychological supports such as:

    • online and face-to-face counselling with a clinical psychologist to help you adjust to the changes related to your injury and manage your psychological wellbeing
    • training and education for you, your family and relevant others about life after severe injury
    • other supports to help manage your wellbeing and enable participation in your life and community, such as gym and exercise programs, attendant care support, return to work support.

    To find out more about these supports, talk to your case manager or icare coordinator.

  • Depression after brain injury

    Brain injury can lead to a loss of energy, and problems with thinking and initiative. These symptoms are like depression and it may be hard to tell the difference between depression and brain injury symptoms.

    Even so, depression after a brain injury is common. In some cases, brain injury can cause depression by changing the balance of chemicals in your brain that are important for maintaining normal mood.

    This kind of depression can lead to feelings of gloom, general tiredness, hopelessness and poor motivation, which might affect your ability to participate in rehabilitation and other activities. Your sleeping patterns, appetite and thinking ability could also be affected by depression.

    Steps to take if you could be depressed:

    • Acknowledge how you feel.
    • Talk to your icare coordinator, case manager or other people involved in your care about how you feel.

    You will find that the earlier you seek help, the quicker you can get better.

    There are many different treatments for depression and people can recover from depression.

    The document ‘Depression after brain injury’ below has more information on what you can do to help manage your depression, and the treatment options available.

  • Support for family members and carers

    If you’re a family member or carer for someone in Lifetime Care or the Workers Care Program, we may be able to offer support.

    This can include:

    • counselling, training and education for you and other family members about life after severe injury
    • family and carer support programs to build the knowledge, wellbeing and resilience of family members and carers.

    To find out more about these supports, talk to your case manager or icare coordinator and see Families & carers.