The Focus on Mental Health of Collegiate Athletes
The focus on mental health of collegiate athletes has seen tremendous growth in recent decades primarily due to the awareness of its effects on the mental, physical, social and performance in the relevant sports. According to 2O14 NCAA report prepared Davoren and Hwang, thirty percent of the 195,000 college students interviewed in the study admitted to being depressed within the last year while fifty percent of them reported that they had been victims of anxiety within the same period (1). These results reveal a necessity for the analysis of stressors of and possible mitigation strategies. Among the sources of stress include competition anxiety, financial stress, gender stereotypes, peer pressure, sporting expectation and social life among others. An analysis of the mental hurdles facing athletes during a stressful period from a Hans Selye's Stress response system allows for thorough comprehension of the victim’s adaptive behavior. This paper discusses how student-athletes at Liberal Arts College experience and deal with stress, the mental health issues that complicate their collegiate experience and the therapeutic tools that can help them deal with the said stressors.
The Significance of Stress in the Lives of Collegiate Athletes
Stress is a significant part of the life of collegiate athletes including those at Liberal Arts College. Gregory and Pritchard (2014) cite the study of Lazarus and Folkman (1996) that define stress as the negative feelings among persons unable to cope with the demands and expectations of the environment around them (1). Individuals that experience stress are thus in a state of mental or emotional discomfort and are susceptible to various health issues including depression, physical deterioration, poor dietary habits, abnormal sleeping patterns, and in adverse cases suicidal tendencies. In some cases, stressed persons experience poor social tendencies such as dissociation, irresponsibility, and violent behavior among others. A scrutiny of the life of a student-athlete reveals various sources of stress. The primary source of stress of student-athletes is competition anxiety and high expectations from the critical stakeholders including the coach, peers, teammates and the college fan base. The fear of losing, poor play and failing to meet the expected level of play creates mental pressure on most student-athletes, especially among the first year students. This phenomenon is particularly worse for collegiate athletes under sports scholarships. The resultant stress may be manifested through poor sleeping and feeding habits, lack of confidence, over-practicing to sharpen their skills and reduced concentration on academic sector. Failure to address such issues may lead to diminished sports performance further increasing the stress levels.
Other Sources of Stress for Collegiate Athletes
Another source of stress is with regards to academic performance. Tests, missing classes, and other academic assignments because of sports events, homework and difficulty of balancing sports and academic life are primary contributors to poor mental health among college athletes. Also, the students’ social life presents another stress avenue. Peer pressure, fame management, relationships, and teammate conflict are significant social stressors. Other sources include injury and sickness, finances, career decisions, homesickness, new responsibilities, and part-time employment among others. It is evident that multiple stressors exist in college sports that make it necessary to for all stakeholders to only minimize the stress points but also help student-athletes deal with these mental issues.
Mental Health Struggles for Collegiate Athletes
Mental health struggles that complicate the collegiate experience of student-athletes primarily depend on the stage of stress levels described by Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome/ Stress response mechanism (Szabo, Tache, and Somogyi 473). According to the theory, mental health struggles are positively correlated to stress adaptation methods by stress victims and appears in three stages. First is the alarm reaction phase when the student-athlete is first exposed to the stressors. College students experience this stage when they are first introduced to the coach, sports facilities, teammates, class and other sources of stress or when they are communicated to regarding the expectations of the college with regards to both the academic, social and sports expectations. The main mental struggle at this point is anxiety. Student-athletes at this stress adaptation stage exhibit various psychosocial syndromes including emotional instability resulting from hormonal adjustments. Physiological syndromes at this stage include high energy levels which can be manifested in increased practice time and intensity, muscle tension that may impede sports performance, declining sensitivity to pain, high blood pressure and difficulties in food digestion. Failure to get help or deal with the mental huddle may lead to the next stage characterized by higher stress levels, adverse mental hurdles, and radical adaptive mechanisms.
The Resistance Phase and Mental Hurdles
The second phase, Hans Selye's approach to explaining the mental hurdles is resistance. Student-athletes at these stage form resistances to external stressors. High stress levels at this phase may lead to depletion of body resources leading mental, emotional and physical exhaustion. Students become more susceptible to health conditions including depression. The main mental huddle at this stage is denial. Most students experiencing stress do not admit to such conditions for fear of victimization and negative perception on their capability to handle responsibilities and college sports mantra. If the stress stimuli are not eliminated at this stage, collegiate athletes may evolve to the final phase of the response structure. The last adaptive phase is exhaustion characterized by various mental huddles including anxiety, ease of irritation, poor judgment and irrationality in decision making, avoiding personal responsibilities and relationships, and engaging in self-destructive behavior. At this phase, students become severely depressed and may engage in self-destructive behavior such as irresponsible sexual activity as stress release mechanism. According to Green, Gary A., et al., all athletes at collegiate levels tend to turn to alcohol and substance abuse to deal with heightened stress levels (51). It is evident that the most significant mental hurdles among collegiate athletes facing stress are accepting the existence of stress (denial), projection, overcoming the fear of victimization and seeking help to deal with their mental well-being, and going against social norms.
Therapeutic Tools for Dealing with Mental Health Issues
Due to the dangerous effects of stress, it is vital for athletes and the relevant stakeholders at the Liberal Arts College to develop therapeutic/mental health tools to help them deal with the identified mental health issues. There are various coping mechanisms available for student-athletes available that can be utilized to provide a positive effect on mental health management process (Baqutayan 479). The first coping mechanism that can be effective for college athletes is Mental disavowal mechanisms. This self-awareness tool allows individuals to shift their perception of thinking in a manner that negates or minimizes the effects of the stressors. Most athletes at the Liberal Arts College typically adopt a mental toughness, ego development, and optimism particularly when dealing with sports-related stressors. This includes associating failure with less practice as opposed to lack of capability and adopting a sportsmanship mentality to deal competitive anxiety. Mental disavowal mechanism is a defensive system comprised of three fundamental constructs. First is displacement where the student-athletes substitute negative emotions with less threatening alternatives. Next is repression where the collegiate sportspersons remove all negative emotions associated with stressful events. Last is reaction formation where negative feelings are replaced by the appositive, positive, thinking. For instance, a student-athlete will replace academic stressors by focusing on their capability in sports. One critical criticism of mental disavowal as a coping mechanism is that it does not remove the stressors and continued exposure coupled with minimal external help may lead to the development of acute stress and long-term mental disorders.
Problem-Focused/ Proactive Coping Mechanisms
Another coping approach adopted by the collegiate athlete is problem-focused/ proactive mechanisms in which they face the stressors head on and converting negative emotion to constructive action. This mechanism includes affiliation (turning to available social networks for help), use of humor to convert stressful moments to funny moments and positive reappraisal where stress is managed by focusing on the present and future positive moments. The latter includes anticipation of the next similar event and predicting a positive outcome and adopting an altruistic approach to life. Liberal Arts College athletes usually utilize this mechanism when coping with stress from losing matches by convincing themselves of a different outcome in future or congratulating themselves for reaching that level as opposed to focusing on the loss. With regards to academic stressors, the student-athlete may anticipate passing next available tests by predicting an absence of sports events the next time they take the test. While other proactive coping mechanisms may be destructive in nature such as acting out (involving oneself in counterproductive behavior) and passive aggression (hostility and resentment towards others), they are often a clear indication of poor stress management capacity and thus a call for external help.
Addressing Mental Health Issues for Collegiate Athletes
The existence of stressors among the Liberal Arts College athletes necessitates that relevant parties in the institution formulate systems and avenue of helping the student-athletes deal with mental issues. It is critical to perceive these athletes as willing to accept help in dealing with mental health issues but are barred by projected stigma, collegiate norms, and unavailability of clear and victimization-free stress management systems (Moreland, Coxe, and Yang 1). This paper, therefore, recommends that the college develops an institutional culture that normalizes the existence of mental health issues and thus encourages all affected students to seek help. This may include making available mental health information via leaflets, social media and the school websites detailing the syndromes, recommended coping mechanisms and avenues of seeking help. Secondly, the college should encourage an all-partisan approach that involves educators, coaches and student peers in dealing with mental issues. Coaches that are aware of the stressful life of the collegiate athlete and who possess the will and know-how to help athletes deal with mental health issues can help minimize the herein identified effects. Other therapeutic tools that can be suggested to student-athlete include meditation, rationalization, joining support groups and visiting professionals.
Conclusion
In conclusion, student-athletes at Liberal Arts College are exposed to various stressors including competitive anxiety, peer pressure, gender stereotyping, financial issues, academic responsibilities and sports expectations among others. Stress can lead to deterioration of psychological, physical and emotional well-being of the said sportspersons thus negatively impacting their academic, sports and social lives. The mental hurdles experienced by these athletes include anxiety, denial, perceived stigma, and social norms associated with life as a collegiate athlete. As elaborated herein, student-athlete adopts various coping mechanisms including a proactive approach and mental disavowal mechanism. Due to the numerous adverse effects associated with stress, it is vital for Liberal Arts College to create a culture that normalizes mental health issues and create an all-partisan support system for the student-athletes to help them deal with their mental health issues.
Works Cited
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