Mental Health & Sports in Young Athletes

When talking about the topic of mental health in sports, most of the time it is generally said that sports have a positive impact on children's overall health, including their mental health. While this is true, there are always two sides to every story. Lots of athletes, specifically in growing, developing children have negative mental effects in relation to their sport. There is a huge chunk of children who struggle with negative mental states in this instance. Examples of this could include anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, and more.
After speaking with some parents of athletes at Boston College High School, also known as BC High, they have noticed a positive impact in their children's lives by actively and consistently speaking with the school's sports psychologist. Some students have one-on-one sessions, as well as mandatory weekly team sessions.
Sports psychologists have different professional opinions than normal academic counselors, therapists, or general psychologists. “Sports psychology can be extremely beneficial for our youth’s development into an athlete as it not only benefits their mindset via reduction of stress, anxiety, or fear of failure as some examples but also works to improve their mental skills and tools to help improve their performance in sport while promoting resilience,” Dr. Ralphaela Fontana states.
Eric and Meghan Bierenbroodspot, parents of athletes at BC High think it is super important for athletes to see a sports psychologist, especially at an age where they have so many different emotions that they don’t know how to address yet. “We have definitely noticed a difference once Jacob started seeing the sports psychologist. I think it's something he will continue to do when he moves to the college level.”
According to Mission Harbor Behavioral Health, a recent study shows that for children, the mental health risks linked to sports are that “16% have increased risk of anxiety/depression, 14% have higher risk of withdrawal/depression, 12% higher score on social problems, and 14% increased risk of attention problems.” There are ways to control these mental risks, programs just need to put it at the forefront of resources for their programs.
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