Athletes & Mental Health

28 May Athletes & Mental Health

With the start of the NBA Playoffs, the NCAA Championships, Sloane Stephens winning the Miami Open, the WNBA Draft and upcoming NBA & NFL Drafts; one could only imagine the mental capacity of each individual athlete competing on their respective stages. The strenuous schedules present challenges for each athlete. You have training, games, meals, rest, film, practice, travel and let’s not forget life happening all while competing on some of the largest stages. So how does an athlete do it? Oftentimes athletes will surprise themselves with how they are able to operate utilizing tunnel vision to meet their goals when chaos seems to surround them. Could it be their innate ability to tap into a laser focused realm to compete on higher levels when met with adversity? Or is it the countless number of hours spent sharpening their skills?

In fact, it’s a number of things. Each athlete develops a regiment consisting of meal planning, rest, training and mental preparation. Mental preparation is the biggest challenge in achieving goals. With countless hours of training, an athlete can sustain fatigue, pain, soreness and exhaustion. Training can be influenced by mental health. Depending on the mental capacity of an athlete, it will establish the level of determination one can use when needing to hit a mark or goal set with each activity. Mental agonies and unforeseen tragedies (injuries, interpersonal discord) are amplified by expectations of performance by coaches and peers/teammates. For instance, a football player is scheduled to play the biggest game of his career and suddenly he catches his girlfriend of 3 years cheating. The athlete is struggling to remain focused with the interpersonal discord while needing to perform at his best during the team’s biggest game of the season. Performance fluctuates with the shifting of moods. Mood shifts can be associated with mental block which interferes with performance. When one experiences a personal challenge, it has the potential to interfere with performance and mindset.

We all know with a positive mindset; an athlete can achieve any goal. The football player with interpersonal discord can tap into the skills learned through active mental health engagement to forego unstable moods in order to remain focused on his goals. Now I’m not saying the incident does not affect him. What I am saying is the athlete has acquired the mental fortitude to cope with life’s challenges to meet his goals. Let’s talk Lebron James shall we. Arguably, LBJ is one of the most hated athletes today. He has sustained some of the harshest critiques as it relates to his capabilities and skillset on and off the court. I mean this guy barely catches a break but he continues to produce nightly on the toughest stages. Every time he is compared to an old player or current ones, he surpasses their records and yet there are still harsh critiques. As you watch him perform, because on his level it’s a performance, you can see the level of mental toughness he operates on. Just knowing his story and how he has overcome hardships as a child to be one, if not the best player today is amazing. So how does he do it? LBJ has one the most positive support systems in the league. He has mentors from many different professions and he is always willing to learn. This guy has a positive social support system in his high school friends. He has learned effective coping techniques to deal with critiques, social media (I need a whole post for this one), physical fatigue, frustration and pressure from the world. It is not known if he has a therapist, but his positive support system and effective coping skills have provided appropriate support during times of need. As a former athlete, I know the importance of having effective coping skills and positive support during high pressure situations.

A moment of self-disclosure. I can recall many years ago (well not too many, HA!), I was playing in my high school’s district championship game. Before the game, I had what I now know as a panic attack. My coaches were stunned. It was the first time they had seen me respond the way I did before a game. Not knowing what to do at that point, one coach went over to my parents and told them I needed assistance. My mom came over, in shock and asks, “what’s going on?” I still remember the words I uttered with tears rolling down my face, “I’m nervous.” Heart pounding (palpitations), breathing hard (shortness of breath); I sat there as she calmed me down and told me how much I was prepared for that moment. Needless to say, I’ve suffered from anxiety since childhood and with effective coping skills have been able to experience minimal episodes throughout the years. It was with positive mental health, sufficient support system and effective coping skills: I have been able to overcome and cope with anxiety. It is my sincere recommendation that each athlete have a psychotherapist and meets with them regularly for optimal performance.

-Your Favorite Therapist