Hi, I'm a guy who in November tore my ACL playing sport. I am having reconstructive surgery in Feb. I should be back to full fitness in 9-12 months from Feb depending on how well my recovery goes if I recover at all. I am really starting to mentally suffer from what I think is depression. At night I regularly find myself crying just thinking about my injury and how I will never get to play sport with my friends again. Also I am starting to feel this affection for this girl but that might just be because I feel so lonely and isolated from the rest of my life and just so alone that is why I think I need someone there. I feel like I am psychologically stuck in the place where I hurt my knee and everyone has abandoned me. I would just really like some advice from anyone who knows anything.
Thanks in advance.

Dude - been there done that. I totally have empathy for what you are going through.

3 years ago I played tennis 4 times a week, racquetball 2 times a week, jai alai 2 times a week, and I golfed. Tennis put me through college and was my first love.

One night I stepped wrong at my house (yeah big time athlete can't even walk right) and my right ankle broke. I went to the hospital the next morning. While jumping down the stairs to meet my buddy who was taking me to the hospital, I missed the step and landed on my broken ankle only this time I really broke my ankle.

The doctor told me I needed surgery and that I would be on crutches a month. WHAT? I couldn't see myself going from sports every day to no sports for a month. Talk about depressed. When they did the surgery they found how much damage I did. I was on crutches for 16 weeks and honestly felt like you do.

But then one day I was passing a guy who was on crutches and only had one leg. He had to deal with it every day of his life. Also one of my golf buddies died during this time. After those two things I realized that yeah I was inconvenience by crutches, but I wasn't those two people so at that moment I felt a heck of a lot LESS sorry for me.

Sorry this is so long, but as you can see I've been there too. Just remember - and this too shall pass. I promise it does. I am back on the tennis court, racquetball court, and jai alai court as well.

Yep, serious car wreck, could not walk for over a year, (doctors said I would never walk again)

You first find out something, who your real friends are, if you even had any real friends. If they are not still visiting you, or inviting you out to party, they are not your friends and never were.

Next, it also gives you a chance to decide what is really important, are you still staying active, lots of other things, and working out at gym on the rest of the body.

You are a guy, so yes, you should be having an interest in someone, girl or guy ( depends on your taste) you should have that regardless of injury.

But time to get over self pity and start getting active in new things in life.

Thanks two helpful answers. I just hope I stay strong and enjoy my last year and do well in my exams.

I've had medium level nerve pain for over 40 of my 67 years, and have had depression too, although it's related to other parts of my life too.

We get what we get and we make of it what we can. You chose sports; I chose home renovation. We both knew the risks. Some people do get sidelined out of nowhere, through no action or choice of their own, but mostly we choose.

Thanks two helpful answers. I just hope I stay strong and enjoy my last year and do well in my exams.

You will. This will actually become your new norm for a while. Example - I had to drive with my left foot for all those weeks. And there's one thing you need to accept as well. As you get older, more things start to break. It is just a part of life and you can't let it destroy you.

One other thing - if it hadn't been for my ankle break, my company wouldn't have moved me to a new building and I wouldn't have met the person of my dreams. My partner held the door open for me one day when I came crutching through and I literally almost fell off my crutches that day. That was almost 4 years ago and we are engaged to be married now.

So regardless of what happens, you need to turn all negatives into a positive.