When people think about March it is often associated with March Madness, the college basketball playoff system. Many people who don’t watch basketball all year, play in the “bracket challenge”. But what if we walked into March Madness thinking about something else, the mental health of those college athletes. The everyday stresses of being an athlete at the high school and collegiate level can be overwhelming, and it is good to check in to make sure our youth are balancing everything okay. Read on to learn more about the pressure they could be experiencing and how to support them.
Healthy Tip Tuesday is brought to you in partnership with Trinity Health Systems.
Often times when a person talks about good coping strategies for promoting mental wellness, a person thinks about youth being involved in a sport. The majority of the time that is an excellent way to encourage positive mental health. The Center for Disease Control cites exercise as one of the top ways for everyone to reduce stress.
However, the pressure of playing sports, especially multiple sport athletes, collegiate level, or ones that are still in school and do junior Olympics, etc. What are some things to think about?
- Student-athletes are sharing that they can feel like they are in a “pressure cooker”, and have to perform well either individually or for the sake of a team event.
- Youth will often play hurt if there is a critical game or match. They talk about being willing to “sacrifice” their body just to win.
- If there is a diagnosed injury that can put anxiety on the athlete, or lead to depression.
- A student-athlete still has to think about schooling through all of this. They have to maintain grades, study and attend classes
How can one support them? Watch for any of these changes in the student-athlete.
- Sleeping troubles
- Irritability
- Sadness
- Low energy
- Changes in eating habits
- Poor athletic performance
It’s okay to reach out to the youth and share the concerns that are visible. They may not respond at first how we would like, but continue to be a support to them. Youth are most likely to seek support for a mental health challenge if a trusted adult suggests it.
Keep the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number on hand just in case 1-800-273-8255.
