How does the way society views courage in professional athletes have an effect on their mental health and resilience? When it comes to how the public perceives athletes, it can have a significant influence on how society understands these important aspects. Athletes are often seen as symbols of strength and determination, and their actions both on and off the field can shape public opinion. The public's view of courage in athletes can influence the way society understands mental health and resilience. First of all, when the public perceives professional athletes as being fearless and invincible, it can create unrealistic expectations for mental health. Athletes are a lot of the time expected to display unwavering confidence and mental strength, which can lead to the …show more content…
Real resilience lies not in never experiencing hardships, but in how we navigate and grow from them. In his treatise "Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable," performance coach Tim Grover offers insights into the true essence of resilience in athletes. Grover proposes that resilience is not equivalent to suppressing emotions or denying vulnerability, but instead embracing them as essential aspects of growth. He argues that authentic courage lies in acknowledging one's fears and insecurities, rather than masking them with false bravado (Grover, 2013). Athletes, just like everyone else, face obstacles and setbacks in their careers and personal lives. By acknowledging and openly discussing these challenges, athletes can inspire others to do the same. Oftentimes, the societal expectations placed on professional athletes to maintain a facade of invulnerability can lead to a variety of mental health issues, which are often intensified by their high-visibility status. The relentless pressure to perform can exacerbate feelings of inadequacy when they're unable to meet these standards. Athletes are frequently in the spotlight, and with that comes a ton of scrutiny that most people never
In Jessica Statsky’s article, “Children Need to Play, Not Compete’’ points out how competitive sports are not fit for children from ages 8-12,due to the fact that it could trigger both their physical and mental health. First,Statsky elaborates on the idea of children faking an injury due to the fear of getting hurt.She cites a mother of an eight-year-old Peewee Football player,who says “The kids get so scared. They get hit once and they don’t want anything to do with football anymore. They’ll sit on the bench and pretend their leg hurts…” (qtd in Tosches). Some children are driven to even more desperate measures. For example, in one Peewee Football game, a reporter watched the following scene as a player took himself out of the game:“Coach,
Athletes in times of difficulty can be important role models.” This shows that sports are in fact helpful because they can grow children into being important role models for the rest of society. Studies have shown time and time again that playing sports can be beneficial to children and we also believe this to be true. Many people still think that sports cause “too many injuries”, or coaches “are not fair enough”, but adolescents will experience these things all throughout their lives because injury can happen anywhere and they will not always be the best at what they are doing. Sports are beneficial to the youth because they can teach children and teens important life skills, help them maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle, all while improving their mental health.
1 in 4 people will be affected by mental health issues at some point in their lives. Depression affects 20-25% of Americans ages 18+ in a given year (CDC.) Student athletes are students who go to school but participate in athletics at the same time. Student athletes are at a higher risk due to having different stress factors that normal students don't have to go through during their college or high school athletic careers. Major events would be the death of Madison Holleran.
Persuasive techniques such as Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are used to help state and support a claim when writing. In “In Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education” by NASPE, the author uses persuasion techniques to convince the reader that dodgeball is not appropriate to play. For example, Ethos is persuasion based on the credibility or authority of the speaker, and in this article the claim is that dodgeball must be banned. To begin with, NASPE explains to the reader about the ban on dodgeball. For example, “Neil Williams, physical education professor at Eastern Connecticut State, says dodgeball has to go”(1008).
Meier’s article, Icing Down Burnout, reveals how the entrapment theory affects athletes through indicating the difference between “commitment, over commitment and self-coercion” (Meier). Achor shows that a positive mindset leads to the opposite of burnout (engagement) as it allows a person to do what they need to, to maintain their health. Finally, burnout is not a natural human experience as the role of nurture overpowers a person’s nature when they cannot deal with the physical and/or psychological stress placed upon them due to their sport/activity, causing it to become a chronic issue and leading to
Wiese-Bjornstal, D. M. (2010). Psychology and socioculture affect injury risk, response, and recovery in high intensity athletes: a consensus statement. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Sciences in Sports, 103-111.
This statement highlights the current culture within sports where athletes are expected to confront challenges and push themselves to their limits time and time again. Thompson acknowledges this expectation and uses the term “courageous” to describe what Biles would have been if she had chosen to continue with her
Collegiate athletes are already under an enormous amount of pressure even before enduring career-ending injuries. According to Kissinger (2009), student athletes normally struggle with six unique challenges. Student must be able to balance both athletic and academic responsibilities, along with balancing social activities, maintaining the stresses of relationships with coaches, teammates, friends, and parents. They also have to manage athletic success and/or failures with emotional stability. More importantly they have to balance physical health and injuries with the need to steady compete and with the termination of one’s college athletic career.
In the story ¨The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner¨ by Alan Sillitoe, our main character Smith is faced with a very real internal conflict. Having to decide between what the world expects of him and what he personally deems the best course of action, which eventually leads him to ease his own conscious. Engaging in his own individual form of protest despite the difficult situation he was presented with relays an universal life message that cannot be overlooked. By taking a one man stand against all that opposes him, our main character shows us that ultimately, it is only what you think of yourself that truly matters. For me, this style of protest began to take form three summers ago when I got a call around two o´clock on a lazy Saturday
Playing a sport whether its basketball, soccer, football or any other of your interest can be thrilling, and accelerating. Not only can it be fun yet physical exercise is good for the mind, body, and spirit. Therefore, as an athlete one must keep in mind that playing any sport, injury is part of life and inevitable. Research has proven from time to time that severe injuries in sports can trigger psychological mental health issues, affecting them in their athletic performance.
Anderson and Miller (2011) stated, “90% of youth players that embark on a professional football career fail to ever achieve professional status.” Supporting this notion, Linnemeyer and Brown (2010) assert that, less than 2% of student athletes will ever have a professional sport career no matter what their aspirations, or those of their parents or coaches. This has a strong psychological affect especially when the athlete has been identified from a young age as a football player instead of a person, and when statistically unrealistic goals have been placed upon them. Athletes with identity foreclosure depict highly authoritarian behavior and their thinking is labeled as stereotypical. They also suffer from lower levels of self-directedness, morals, and autonomy (Brewer & Petitpas, 2017).
The values of sports can influence the way people view themselves and others. Being part of a team creates a bond between teammates that can last a lifetime. Also, enduring the criticism of the coaches distills proper direction and discipline that you would likely not learn off the field. In “The Real New York Giants”, the author, Rick Reilly, writes about how a football team of firefighters lost many teammates and friends due to the attacks on September 11th, 2001 on the Twin Towers, and how the bonds and closeness of that group helped them to keep playing football and honor their fallen friends whom they became so close with through the sport (**insert beginning pg #). While in this certain circumstance, the importance of sports does not affect the performance of the players in their everyday life, there are instances where the sports overtake other aspects of life and could become dangerous for the player.
Sports psychology continues to evolve in order to ensure that comprehensive and evidence-based psychological services are available for athletes and teams. Giving athletes an understanding of their psychological functioning, and building the ability to implement a range of psychological strategies in competition enables athletes to both execute their skills and thrive under pressure as they strive to reach their performance potential.
In the article, “Athletes and Coaches Report Mental Health is Slightly More Important Than Physical Health in Overall Performance; Both Agree That More Communication is Needed to Address Mental Health Concerns.”, the Minds in Motion Depression Awarenes Campaign conducted a survey and found that the athletes and coaches believed that “mental health shares an equal, and/or slightly greater role than physical health, in defining peak athletic
Mental illnesses have become something extremely apparent in our society today. Although they were often overlooked in the past and not thought of as an actual illness, they are now taken much more seriously. Even though illnesses such as anxiety and depression are taken more seriously, it seems that the number of people affected by these illnesses is only increasing. Because of the increase of depression in our society there is now more and more evidence about what causes it and why. One place we have seen a huge increase in depression is in student athletes, more specifically female athletes.