In the sports world, there are not only physical risks to meet certain goals, the mental health of athletes is affected during their sports career. However, it has rarely been given due importance.
In the sports world, there are not only physical risks to meet certain goals, the mental health of athletes is affected during their sports career. However, it has rarely been given due importance.
According to a study from the University of Toronto, the majority of high-performance athletes experience obstacles in their mental health related to anxiety, depression, stress and eating disorders.
Faculty of Physical Education and Kinesiology graduate student Zoe Poucher and pioneer of the study explained:
“Athletes face a lot of stress and pressure, and have to manage many different expectations, especially at the Olympic Games. This can have a very negative impact on their well-being.”
Through the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Poucher published an article in which a prevalence of mental disorders is evident in elite athletes, specifically in Canadians.
In collaboration with several academics, It was concluded that 31.7% of athletes present symptoms of depression, 18.8% suffer from anxiety and 8.6% have eating disorders.
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On the other hand, according to Raven Saunders, a senior at the University of Mississippi and star shot putter on the school’s track team, who after Rio 2016 was hospitalized for a mental breakdown; she told her, The mental health of Olympic athletes has never been a key concern for the sport’s governing bodies that oversee them. d.
“It’s as if mental health problems are not present and are not talked about. If you have a problem, solve it and If you have any kind of mental health problem, people think you’re crazy or that something is wrong with you, or that you’re out of place. That’s how I grew up thinking about it, Saunders adds, physical injuries have long been managed with detailed protocols and services, but coaches and event organizers rarely considered the mental state of athletes, much less made sure they There are resources available to address any problem.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics
One of the greatest athletes of recent times and a figure on the United States gymnastics team, Simone Biles, partially retired in the middle of a gymnastics competition to be able to focus on her mental health.
One of the gymnast’s strongest arguments was that she wanted to deal with the “demons” in her head and assured that her mind was the most important thing in sports.
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On the other hand, she explained that she no longer trusted herself because the pressure she felt was so much that she felt the “weight of the world” on her shoulders. For this reason, she stressed that despite having so much commitment in these types of important competitions, people must be clear that They are not only athletes but also people who feel and have problems.
Biles’ decision led to a new discussion and analysis of the issue, and also raised this factor. The athletes who have spoken out about it broke the stigmas and barriers of mental healthrepresent a call as a society and to the people involved in the sports field to act and prepare athletes with greater responsibility and to protect and preserve healthy minds.
In Tokyo, for the first time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has guidelines for athletes and their coaches to educate, assess and manage mental health issues.
This decision of directly address mental health in the same way they advise athletes on nutrition and recovery from physical injuriesit happened after some other athletes like Michael Phelpsadmitted that he too experienced depression and had suicidal tendencies after his fourth Olympic Games or that Simone Manuela two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, will reveal at the Olympic trials in June that she experienced depression related to overtraining syndrome.
The Colombian cyclist was one of the athletes who gave her opinion regarding what happened, ensuring that the American was not the only one who felt this way, that In general, athletes feel a pressure that “does not allow them to sleep”. Likewise, he explained that it was normal to have passion for his job and that all athletes feel fear and insecurities, but that It is vitally important to manage certain feelings instead of repressing or hiding them..
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of the College of Psychologists of Colombia affirms that although each discipline is different, The pressure that athletes are currently handling is generally high, since they not only face competitions without an audience but also due to the COVID-19 pandemic, expectations, media exposure and social networks changed their training and perspectives. .
“Just as you have a sports doctor, you should have the continuous presence of trained and qualified psychologists in the area of sports, who work and strengthen not only what is related to sports, but also prepare the athlete comprehensively in the development of the different areas. of their life and their mental health. We highlight at this point the psychological training of parents, companions and coaches as fundamental axes in the sports training and development processes,” said Ayala.