Mental Health Affects Student Athletes

Intense competition and consistent intensity can substitute the positive attributes of your mental wellness for mental health issues. Studies have shown that student-athletes have more negative emotional states than non-student athletes.

At this age, you are finally learning about time management. During the Covid era, we had unlimited free time, and most of us spent most of our days watching Netflix or playing video games. Furthermore, because of the pandemic, awareness has been raised regarding how mental health and stress can affect our brains. Extensive COVID protocols and cancellations, and most of the time feeling extremely isolated, could have affected sports performance during a worldwide pandemic, which adds pressure and can affect mental health concerns like depression. However, now that the whole world isn’t shut down, we have to figure out how to navigate high school, which requires a lot of adjustment. Balancing things like extracurriculars, school, and chores is a challenging task. However, with correct time management, it’s fundamentally simple.

Often the benefits of physical activity on your mental health. However, intense competition and consistent intensity can substitute the positive attributes of your mental wellness for mental health issues. Studies have shown that student-athletes have more negative emotional states than non-student athletes. A student who heavily identifies in the sport that they play, have their self-worth, and reflect on their performance, might feel obligated to continue a sport they no longer enjoy. Because of the sacrifices and investments that their parents have made. If they do quit, you can feel guilt or failure, which makes them feel like they’ve let people down.

A New Change

The challenge of balancing academics, sleep, daily life, and relationships can feel extremely hard to manage. Although coaches and parents can help assess the problem, they can also exacerbate the problem by adding more pressure on the athletes. Furthermore, the good news is that this problem is coming more into focus in different programs all across the nation. The NCAA realized that mental health was the student-athletes biggest concern, so college programs started to add therapists to their departments, and they also screened players for anxiety and depression and even trained the staff on how to detect these mental challenges in an athlete. And as the years pass, these same programs will probably start being implemented in high schools

How to balance sports and mental health:

Prioritize Self-care: Make it your priority to always try and get as much sleep as you can, eat nutritious meals, and you can even practice relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation or even listening to music.

Time Management: Use time management techniques to balance athletics, academics, social life, and personal time. Make schedules and try to stay with them. Strive to try and get as much homework as you can during your lunch period, study hall, etc. So when you get home, you can rest and recover.

Communicate: Talk to your support network, coaches, and teammates about your struggles and needs moving forward. They can offer valuable support and accommodations to help manage your mental health and sports effectively.

Seek Support: Don’t hesitate to seek support from therapists or counselors if you’re struggling. Most schools have a guidance counselor or something you could talk to.

Stay Flexible: Be flexible and be able to adapt to both sports and mental health. Realize that there will always be ups and downs, and it’s okay to address your goals and strategies as needed.

Practice Mindfulness: Include mindfulness exercises in your daily routine to help you focus better and manage stress. Athletes can benefit greatly from mindfulness practices like body scans and mindfulness meditation.

Make Contact with Peers: Make contact with other student-athletes who might be going through comparable difficulties. Feeling less alone and more understood can be achieved via supporting one another and sharing experiences.

Take Breaks: It's critical to allow yourself to rest when necessary. Pay attention to your body and mind's signals when they need to rest, whether it's a day off from training or a day to refuel for mental wellness.

Recall that achieving balance is a continuous process, and it's acceptable to seek assistance when needed. Through the use of these measures and a priority of your mental health, you can effectively manage the demands of varsity sports while preserving your overall well-being.

Sources:

Embark Behavioral Health, and Embark Behavioral Health. “6 Ways to Help Your Student Athlete Balance High School Sports and Mental Health.” Embark Behavioral Health, 2 Sept. 2021, www.embarkbh.com/blog/mental-health/6-ways-to-help-your-student-athlete-balance-high-school-sports-and-mental-health/. Accessed 31 Mar. 2024.

Written By: Chloe

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