Don't Ignore Mental Health

Overview

We mostly see and hear people talk about wanting to lose weight, get fit, or become healthier. They want their bodies right, both to become more appealing to others and/or simply to feel better about themselves overall. It’s a great idea to want to stay physically fit. There isn’t anything wrong with wanting better for your body. However, do you ever think about your mental health? Are you obtaining your mental strength? Your mental health is just as important as being physically healthy.

Mental health is what we feel and the way we think which includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Mental health is just as important as physical health because it helps determine the way we handle stress, handle our moods, and make choices. People handle their mental health differently; some are healthy, and others not so much. Your mental health affects you at every stage of your life. The way we express ourselves and relate to others can stem from mental health. We should all understand or learn to understand that it is normal to feel different emotions, both positive and negative. Individuals should not ignore or judge someone because of the emotions they feel or the way they choose to express themselves.

College Student-Athletes

There are many occasions where a person feels overwhelmed or stressed about certain things, but their feelings are overlooked. For instance, being in college can make a person feel as if there is a weight on their shoulders that they’re struggling to lift, and it is being carried around every day. Imagine how most student-athletes may feel from time to time, or maybe even the majority of the time. They carry the weight of maintaining their grades, while also having the pressure on them to attend early morning practices and workouts. After practice, they head to class and have to keep their focus, while maybe struggling to stay awake or being disturbed by the many thoughts that roam around in their heads. In short, student-athletes face the daily life of a college student and also the life challenges that come their way as young adults.

The image that student-athletes try to maintain can also become added to the pressure that they feel and can build up over time. Good mental health is when a person allows themself to experience negative emotions, and we should all know that mental health is not always about being happy. Yes, happiness and joy is what we hope for. However, we can all relate to the feelings of stress. So, why not allow student-athletes to take a break or breather when needed? Athletic departments make sure to have sports trainers and services that can address injuries that these athletes may experience. Why not ensure to have psychologists or therapists readily available for student-athletes when they may feel overly stressed? Coaches, parents, and the community want to see student-athletes prepared, ready to perform, and as healthy as they can be physically. But are we just as invested in their mental health as well?

Student-athletes have plenty of challenges and obstacles that they face throughout their college careers. Along with all that they have to deal with, they are also seen as and known for carrying the weight of the hopeful expectations that the community and campus invest in them. Publicly, they are praised for their accomplishments, while also being criticized for their mistakes. The majority of the time, these young adults, who are students and athletes, feel the pressure of the criticism the most, so they try their hardest to live up to the image that people see fit for them. Student-athletes are always expected to represent a model example of being committed, while having discipline for their sports and academics. Therefore, knowing this, and having to step up to portray this image, can add to the many other stressful matters that are dealt with daily. This can lead to student-athletes feeling as if they shouldn’t address their mental issues, such as burnout, anxiety, depression, and feeling overwhelmed overall. Student-athletes should be allowed to have the ability to speak to someone about their everyday stress and struggles while dealing with sports and academics.

It’s no secret that many people suffer with their mental health. And yet, for some reason, there are those individuals who believe that playing sports makes athletes immune to mental health challenges. As reported in a recent article, “On college campuses in the United States, around 30% of women and 25% of men who are student-athletes report having anxiety," according to data shared by the American College of Sports Medicine. Among those athletes who report feeling this way, only 10% receive care from a professional.

Coaches and the athletic department should consider mandatory therapy sessions for their athletes. The sessions could be a requirement for student-athletes to know that they must show up and can talk about anything they feel is necessary for them. This would be helpful because this may help individuals become more confident about themselves and not be embarrassed to speak about their emotions and how they feel. If every teammate is required to have an individual appointment, then there is no way of knowing who or being able to judge those who are feeling off and/or are depressed about their lifestyle. Therapy sessions are confidential. Thus, this would be a way for student-athletes to feel secure about themselves, and this would be a step in the right direction of ensuring that depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders do not take over an individual. Support like this from coaches and the athletic department can show student-athletes that they are cared about as people and are not just seen as another athlete for the program.

Adolescence & Adulthood

In the community of young adults and teenagers becoming young adults, there are many situations where individuals feel alone. They feel as if they can’t talk about their emotions and feelings to someone, or they simply do not know how to express what they are feeling. People only see the good things that a person shares, and this is done so that no one can see the reality of a person’s life. It has become normal to hide behind an image that truly doesn't represent how someone really feels. Living this way can be so overwhelming that individuals do not know how to deal with the different moods and thoughts that roam through their heads, day-in and day-out. Depression begins to take over mentally, and this leads to noticeable differences that affect their lives physically. A person can become distant from their family and friends, they can become more quiet than usual, and they can also become bored by activities that would typically excite them. Most depressed individuals become so overwhelmed because of their thoughts and negative emotions that they think being alone is their only option.

A person may often feel as if they aren’t able to talk to their friends about how they feel because they do not want to seem like a burden or that they are throwing their problems at someone else. However, it is important to talk to your friends and to allow them to feel comfortable about opening up to you. Holding a conversation can be the beginning of solving someone’s issues. The conversation can be an opportunity for someone struggling with their mental health to feel as if there is hope for better and brighter days ahead. In some cases, friends struggle with trying to help one another and feel guilty about this. This is fine and totally normal. There are people who find it hard to share vulnerable moments with others. If there is someone you notice that is struggling with mental health, you should encourage them to reach out to someone that they may be comfortable speaking with. Maybe this way, they have a better chance of helping your friend open up and deal with their mental health in better ways, instead of keeping it all bottled in.

Conclusion

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, I hope that you can find comfort in knowing that you are not alone. It is normal to have more intense feelings from time to time. These feelings can stem from situations happening in our life, or sometimes these feelings come up for no reason at all. However, dealing with those feelings instead of covering them up is always the healthier choice.

Try taking a break and doing things that make you feel calm and not overwhelmed. Exercise can be a great way to calm those feelings, so maybe try going for a jog or doing a quick workout that can help boost your energy and drain those negative emotions away. If reading soothes you, then stop what you’re doing for a while so that you can relieve stress by reading a book.

Down days and overwhelming feelings may appear from time to time, but learning to cope with it can help you feel way better than before. Understanding your mental health is important because now you can gain control over how you handle your moods, thoughts, and emotions.

Finally, there are many people around who will be more understanding of your feelings than you may think. Try reaching out to parents, friends, coaches, teachers, mental health professionals, and many other people in the community because it can be hard to talk about what you are going through but always remember there is someone that can try to help.

Here are websites to learn more about mental health:

• College Student-Athlete Health and Well-Being
• Mental Health & Athletes
• College athlete speaks about mental health pressures, gives advice to coaches, parents
• Adolescent Mental Health

About The Author

L’Nysia Johnson is a sophomore at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. Her major is in Psychology and her minor is in Criminal Justice.