By: Addalleenah Taylor
People struggle with mental health, but how can sports affect mental
health? There are lots of people who struggle with mental health, it gets
better and it gets worse. Something that has been mentioned every so
often is the saying, “It’s gonna get worse before it gets better.” A lot, if
not most of the time, that is true.
Sports is usually one of the top priorities for a student in school. While
most would agree that students love sports, they tend to be very effective
in the life of a student—their schedule, hangouts, when they do school
work, etc. Coaches tend to say that sports have a great impact on mental
health. The togetherness, physical activity, and the sport itself can help
the way an athlete behaves, talks, and thinks among other things. Coach
Behnke says “It’s not as simple as a LEGO step-by-step process, which
can be frustrating.”
When an athlete is playing, it is important to know or figure out what
helps and doesn’t help their mental health. They could be affected by the
littlest things and somebody doesn’t even know what they did. The little
things can also be what helps an athlete’s mental health the most.
Being in a big group, hanging out with teammates, and having good
conversations with each other are all examples of what things can help
athletes with their mental health. It’s important to recognize a player’s
value, whether you are a coach or a teammate. While sports can boost an
athlete’s mental health, failing during that time can also have an
unfavorable impact on one’s mental health as well.
If an athlete is struggling with mental health, it could affect how they play
and their mindset on playing. When one is struggling with this it’s
important for them to feel safe in their practicing or game environment. A
coach often checks in on how a player is doing to see if they need help, or
to talk, etc. Coach Behnke says “I often call this a “status check”. Caring
about how an athlete feels and how they are struggling, if they are
struggling can help how they feel about everyone else on the team, and
change their perspective about others too.
There are things like talking, reading, and other things that help mental
health, but there are also some exercises that can help boost mental
health too, whether it’s physical or just mental. Some other physical
exercise has been proven to boost and strengthen mental health for an
Athlete.
Physical exercises such as lifting weights, running, yoga, etc. are activities
that are relieving for others. It changes their mindset, what they’re
thinking, how they’re thinking. Using these simple exercises can help boost
mental health for somebody when they didn’t even know that it could
work for them.
Mental exercises are just as important as physical exercises. Mental
exercises like meditation, music, etc. are simple exercises that can also do
so much for an athlete. If they aren’t one to be super into activities that
aren’t in practice, then mental activities are something that can do so
much if they need help.