JMS 550 Capstone Project
The Mental Health Challenges of Young Athletes
By Rebecca Wasik
May 13, 2019
When high school athletes take the field, he or she is most likely focused on one common goal: winning the game. After the stadium lights are shut off for the night and the cold locker room is left empty, those same student athletes may be thinking about their futures. Experts agree that scholarships, scouts, parental pressure and college recruiting can cause mental health problems in these student athletes.
According to NCAA data, the majority of student-athletes often ask for help with their mental health problems. In an article in USA Today High School Sports, stress can lead to a burnout.
“Burnout occurs when a student-athlete is no longer motivated to play their sport but continues to do so because of external factors,” Jaimie Duffek, the director of Next College Student Athlete Softball said.
“The mental health side of sport and performance in high school and collegiate athletes usually revolves around anxiety,” Ami Strutin Belinoff of Mental Peak Performance, a psychological service for athletes, said. “There is just too much to do and achieve and so little time to do it in, and the next athlete is standing in line behind you ready to take your spot.”
Experts agree that for many, one significant goal of playing sports when you are young is to make it to the professional level. The harsh reality is that mental health issues may not always be solved by fame and fortune.
San Diego area student athletes have a lot of fellow San Diegans in the pros to look up to, from Stephen Strasburg and Adrian Gonzalez in the MLB to rising star athletes like Boogie Ellis, a senior point guard at Mission Bay High School.
Many high-profile athletes in the pros have admitted that they have struggled with mental health issues in their lives and careers. From Justin Verlander and David Freese in the MLB to DeMar Derozan in the NBA. Cleveland Cavaliers star, Kevin Love wrote an entire piece in The Players’ Tribune on his panic attacks and anxiety, including details of meeting with therapists that the Cavaliers provided for him. Love suffered a panic attack during a game against the Atlanta Hawks in 2017 that changed his outlook on mental health, according to his account in the article.
According to a study conducted by Dr. Angela D. Pellant, a Board-Certified Family and Sports Medicine medical doctor, 85% of certified athletic trainers indicate that their student athletes suffer from anxiety.
“Pressure from coaches, teachers, parents and peers are the most common reasons teens list as causes of their anxiety,” said Pellant in a post on the National Federation of State High School Associations website.
Some coaches are trying to lessen the burdens felt by their student athletes.
“I have an open-door policy,” said Travis Nichols, head coach of men’s basketball at San Diego Mesa College. “My players can come and speak to me anytime about anything. If the pressure is too much to bear, I will refer him to our resources on campus.”
Taking a page out of NBA coach, Phil Jackson’s book, Nichols has implemented yoga sessions for his players to realize the power of their minds and to think outside of the box.
Damon Chase, the athletic director at Helix Charter High School in La Mesa said many of the school’s teams have done yoga in the past to cope with and relieve stress and tension. Helix offers other resources for their student athletes as well.
“We recommend seeing a licensed social worker in our wellness center or a counselor,” Chase said. “If the problem persists, we have recommended seeking outside services through their insurance provider.”
Helix High is a college preparatory school where students must meet college admissions requirements in order to receive their diploma. They also have a history of successful sports programs. Helix sports maintain high expectations, according to their website.
Not all parents are satisfied with the services that their child’s school provides them, which leads some to look to outside professionals. Athletic mental skills coach, Brian Alexander is one of those professionals that parents turn to. At his practice in San Diego, Alexander says out of all the clients he sees, about half are high school student athletes.
“We usually start with awareness building discussions, activities, and exercises,” Alexander said. “We can learn a lot about what the sources of pressure are, how they are internalized, and what the psychological and physiological responses they experience are. From there, we can develop some coping skills to help them navigate their way through the pressures of their sport participation such as relaxation skills, self-talk strategies, routines, reflective practices and time management skills.”
Not all young athletes suffer the same types of stress, or any stress at all. Cindy Farmer, single mom of twin boys, let her children play baseball and volleyball, because they wanted to. “They never lost any sleep over their sport, or any other thing they were involved with,” Farmer said.
Jennifer Payne is a mother of one former and one current high school athlete. She said the discipline, time management and goal setting they learned through playing sports have helped shape her children.
“I wholeheartedly believe that the benefits of high school athletics far outweigh the potential damage to our kids’ mental health,” Payne said.
On the other hand, some students genuinely struggle with balancing the pressures of high school sports. Anjie Frias’ son played basketball his sophomore through senior year of high school.
“Because of the time demands of the sport as well as maintaining his grades and small number of peers on his team, he was socially isolated from his grade and required therapy sessions and medications to resolve depression.” Frias said.
Karla Salazar’s daughter often felt exhausted and frustrated when she did not play to the best of her abilities.
“She was a ball of emotions for four years, and the sport in which she loved so much was at the core of causing so many of those feelings,” Salazar said.
The time demands are real according to Shea Herndon, who currently attends Clairemont High School and plays three sports.
“During busy seasons when I’m doing three sports at once, I don’t have a lot of time to do homework or hang out with friends,” Herndon said.
When a student-athlete is feeling overwhelmed from playing the game they love, sports psychologist, Alexander said to take into account all of the academic, athletic, and social demands currently being placed on them, which can fluctuate by day.
Ilima Ballot admits she pressured her 18-year-old son in high school athletics to the point where he stopped competing.
“He wasn’t enjoying himself anymore. It became work,” Ballot said.
High school certified athletic trainer, Cari Wood experienced the loss of a three-sport athlete to suicide in 2018. This prompted her to contribute to an NFHS article addressing ways to recognize problems and implement solutions at the high school level.
“Ultimately, everyone who works with athletes wants to do whatever possible to help them succeed athletically and academically,” said Wood. “However, the most important goal is to help build strong and resilient young men and women who will be ready for all of the challenges of life during and after high school.”
Comments
Post a Comment