Mind Body and Athletics

Mind Body and Athletics, for athletes they go hand in hand. It is a common myth that playing sports makes athletes immune to mental health challenges. Athletes with mental illnesses are more common than we may think. Some of us don’t realize that with pressures to perform well in the game, as well as in other aspects of life, being an athlete can be incredibly challenging for a person’s mental health.

Athletes can have difficulty accepting emotional hardships and seeking support.

Caroline Silby, a clinical and sports psychologist counseled a long list of Olympians and World and National champions, she states that “The millennials are experiencing high rates of depression and anxiety, with some studies indicating this is due to high levels of perfectionism—a quality that most high achieving athletes possess.”.

The very nature of competition can provoke, add to or expose psychological issues in athletes.

Let us understand how Mind Body and Athletics go together & the factors that affect Mental health.

Factors influencing Mind Body and Athletics

Sleep

Sleep is important for Mind Body and Athletics to work well together.
Sleep disruption is caused due to intense training, rigorous schedules, and frequent traveling across time zones. It could result in a drop in performance, severe health consequences. Poor sleep could also increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Survey reveals that 1 in 4 athletes suffer from sleep problems like- trouble falling asleep, snoring, and issues with breathing, such as sleep apnea. Most athletes admitted to sleeping too few hours and 1 in 6 used sleeping pills.
Those with insomnia are usually given melatonin and taught stretching techniques before bed.

Overtraining

Successful training involves overload but sometimes fails to recognize that adequate recovery is also a must.
Some athletes face OTS (Overtraining Syndrome) where they experience fatigue, performance decline & mood disturbances.

Anxiety/stress

Not all competitive stress is bad and not all athletes suffer from anxiety, for some, it might even be a motivating factor.
Athletes face a lot of stress due to pressure from their coach, parents, society, competitive pressure, pressure due to rivalry & disagreements.
A fall or an accident during physical activity causing injuries to one’s body could also cause a trigger in anxiety.
Negative stress can promote feelings of self-doubt, lack of self-confidence in one’s mind. Poor concentration is another consequence.
Anxiety is often related to fear of failure, and an athlete’s self-perception based on previous performances, while for some it might be a motivating factor, for some it isn’t.
For some, the growing dissatisfaction could lead to leaving the sport completely.

Eating disorder

Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, can have traumatic effects on both the health and performance of athletes. Athletes participating in sports where low body weight or leanness grants a competitive advantage are mostly affected compared to others.
Research findings state that females represent approximately 90% of those who seek medical care for an eating disorder.
According to research, patients with bulimia nervosa, and comorbid psychiatric conditions were more likely to report suicidal thoughts and a history of suicide attempts. Binge eating disorder has been found to significantly co-exist with depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and body dysmorphic disorder.

Psychological response to injury

Injuries are common in athletes. Every athlete reacts differently to injuries. Some have emotional responses, i.e: isolation, irritation, lack of motivation, anger, disengagement. On the other hand, some show problematic emotional responses like- sleep disturbance, eating disorders due to alterations in appetite, sadness leading to depression, emotional outbursts, substance abuse.
Concussions can be particularly challenging for student-athletes to handle emotionally, increasingly common in a variety of contact and collision sports; an injury that is occasionally associated with significant time loss or retirement from the sport.

Psychological abuse

All types & ages of athletes are susceptible to these problems but research confirms that elite, disabled, the LGBT community athletes are at the highest risk, and that psychological abuse is at the core of all other forms and that athletes can also be perpetrators.
It arises from prejudices expressed through power differences. They use a range of interpersonal mediums including contact, non-contact/verbal, cyber-based, negligence, bullying, and hazing.

Mind Body and Athletics- Stars speak

“I found that with depression one of the most important things you could realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it… I wish I had someone at that time who could just pull me aside and [say], ‘Hey, it’s going to be okay.’”- Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson (One of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time)
“It’s like a weight is pressing down on you. There are days when you just can’t get out of bed. You cannot face the world. You tell yourself simple things like: ‘Just get to the kitchen and get a glass of water.’ But not being able to do something so basic is frightening.”- Ian Thorpe (5x time Olympic Gold Medalist)
“I remember sitting in my room for four or five days not wanting to be alive, not talking to anybody. That was a struggle for me … I reached that point where I finally realized I couldn’t do it alone”- Michael Phelps (Most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 total medals, 23 gold)
“I cried all the time. I was miserable to be around,”- Serena Williams (Global tennis champion)
“Know that you’re not alone, there are millions of people across the nation and the world who are experiencing the same things that you are.”- Amanda Beard (Gold medal-winning swimmer)

Destigmatizing Mental Health Treatment in Sports

When people with this much popularity courageously talk about their mental health, it shows us that they too are humans, like the rest of us, who also struggle to overcome personal and professional obstacles.

Let us look at few ways to seek help:

Talking to family, teammates, coaches, or support staff; anyone you’re comfortable with.
Make an appointment with a therapist or trusted medical professional to help you identify sources of stress and manage your symptoms.
Creating Self-Care Plans help make sure you’re setting aside time from training, academics, and pressures of daily life to do something for yourself each day, such as meditate, practice yoga, take a walk, listen to music.
An early intervention framework can boost athlete mental wellbeing as well.