Mental Health and Injury-2
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Jonathan Kuczik
Professor Ferrara
10 May 2023
The physical and emotional toll of sports injuries on young athletes can lead to the
development of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. This highlights the need for
preventative measures, adequate support systems, and early intervention to promote both
physical and mental well-being. Not only does your body have to go through the pain and
suffering while you are injured, it takes a toll on your mind as well. It is a very common thing to
see young athletes quit their sports at a very early age and people do not know why. The main
cause of these athletes quitting their sport is due to the mental trauma that they all go through.
On top of that, you have athletes that will get injured and you take the one thing that they have
away from them. With this going on, your brain does not know how to comprehend the situation,
so it puts you into a deep hole and nobody really understands it. Coaches often cause all of these
things to be worse if they really don't understand their athletes. “How student-athletes respond to
All athletes are different with how they react and who they really are. Coaches and staff
that work with the athlete really need to understand who they are as a person so they can help
them. This topic has become very serious over the past few years and it is finally starting to get
recognition because of how many young athletes are tragically taking their own lives due to 2
stress and pain. Finding most of these cases in young college athletes. McNealy's article states
that, “the fact that psychological disorders commonly arise during college years and are thought
It took the athletic world years to understand why young athletes would take their lives at
such young ages, and it was all due to the stress that they endure throughout their season. Even if
we were not in season, it would still have us athletes in a whirlwind of emotions. Coaches and
parents never see the side of an athlete that is struggling; it takes so much for some coaches to sit
down and ask how we are doing mentally. Obviously winning a championship would be a big
goal of most coaches, but the world feels that the mental health of struggling athletes needs to be
taken more seriously. Athletes that are injured struggle with so much more than just the injury.
Athletes who are forced to sit out due to injury could lose faith in their skills and worry that they
won't be able to perform at the same level when they come back. Pressure from coaches,
teammates, and spectators to perform well upon return might exacerbate this dread. All of these
factors cause mental health issues. Nobody understands how much the athlete goes through on a
daily basis. All of this pressure also causes them to bottle up all of their emotions and they keep
them inside. They think that if they say that they are struggling, then you are weak and frowned
upon as an athlete. Athletes may be concerned that talking about their mental health issues would
make them appear less important to their team, which could result in them losing their jobs or
sponsorship deals. Some athletes may believe that their coaches, teammates, or medical
professionals do not comprehend the special demands and difficulties that come with being an
athlete, and may fail to offer them the resources and support they require. But that is not the case.
There is a stigma going around now that it is not frowned upon if you are injured and struggling 3
mentally. This makes everything so much easier for athletes and eases their minds. The NCAA
and all professional sports now finally realize how important this topic has become in today's
world.
One of the biggest issues that we have with college athletes and professional athletes after
they receive an injury is substance abuse. After undergoing surgery and dealing with pain, they
give you medicine to take away the pain. Some athletes then abuse the medication and whenever
something goes bad, they turn to those substances. I have read about so many athletes that have
turned to substances and they ruined their lives. In this article coming from the NCAA it states,
“The Harvard study noted the age of traditional students, 18-24, coincides with peak years for
onset of common mental health problems among youth related to alcohol, tobacco and other drug
use, depression and anxiety disorders and suicide” (Hainline, Bell, Wilfert). It also tells us that
they took a survey a few years back, these were the results. “The 2012 National Survey on Drug
Use and Health of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration identifies
that 8.9 million adults have co-occurring mental and substance use disorders and recommends
That is an interesting statistic to think about because of how common it is to abuse the
drugs that you are put on after surgery. Athletes and other people claim that using these drugs
“takes the pain away” and “helps find themselves again”. That is not the case however. These
drugs that they take make them feel a certain way: like they matter in this world again. Most
athletes feel so shut out due to their injury that they need to find another way to be happy. Taking
these drugs makes them feel something and this is where you start to see the overdoses and
suicides in young athletes. Multiple professional athletes taking their lives because they feel that 4
they “aren't good enough” and athletes overdosing because they need to “feel something again”.
This is the problem in our society where the best athletes in the world are afraid to speak up for
their sake.
In the sports world, there is a lot of stigma associated with mental health problems, which
can make it challenging for athletes to get the care and assistance they require. This stereotype is
frequently linked to the idea that athletes are strong, resilient, and unbeatable, leaving little place
for vulnerability or weakness. People need to be more aware of this stigma surrounding athlete
mental health, and all of these things lead to serious mental health issues. Here is a small part of
The stigma attached to athlete mental health issues are driven by many factors including: Social
history;
Individual athletes who are expected to be successful by a parent, relatives, sport organizations
A multitude of media outlets that glorify those who succeed and are critical of those who fail. 5
These all fuel an additional expectation for athletes who have been championed to be 'mentally
tough'. Mental toughness and mental health are seen as contradictory terms in the world of elite
performance. (Bauman)
This article helps sum up the biggest parts of the whole athlete's stigma.
Taking a survey with certain questions really helped me understand more of what other
This survey shows that some athletes feel the need to hold back when they are feeling depressed. 6
Over the past few years, this has all gotten much better. Recognizing the value of mental
health and fostering a supportive, stigma-free atmosphere where athletes feel comfortable getting
help when they need it are vital for players, coaches, and medical professionals. We can increase
athletes' general well-being and their chances of fully recovering from injuries by proactively
treating mental health issues. Ultimately, taking care of mental health concerns is essential for
athletes overall success and wellbeing, especially in light of sports injuries. To foster an
eliminate the stigma associated with mental health problems in sports. Injured athletes can
manage their mental health issues and continue to thrive both on and off the field with the correct
Short video about mental health about how injury affects it all.
Works Cited
“Mind, Body and Sport: How Being Injured Affects Mental Health.” NCAA.Org,
www.ncaa.org/sports/2014/11/5/mind-body-and-sport-how-being-injured-affects-mental-he
www.ncaa.org/sports/2014/11/4/mind-body-and-sport-substance-use-and-abuse.aspx.
web-p-ebscohost-com.libdb.fairfield.edu:8443/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=ce6
