The Reality Behind Mental Health In Student Athletes

As a student-athlete I’m used to being viewed differently by my professors and peers. Now whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, I’ll leave for you to decide. But being an athlete generally comes with stereotypes, and one I really want to focus on is that athletes don’t get depressed or suffer from depression because of our “mental toughness”....

.....Sports don’t let you take a break. Maybe that`s what makes us tough, but it also takes so much out of us, even though we continue to make the sacrifices time and time again because we love our sport. It makes us feel like we have to keep pushing when everything in us makes us want to stop more than anything. But we can’t. We’re just used to pushing through, we’re taught to keep playing and to ignore the pain, so we do.

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Bethany`s
Notes: Here`s one student athlete`s perspective. Probably an honest view of their experience. Not all are like this but certainly the pressure to compartmentalize everything is encouraged by parents, teammates, and coaches. Let`s not forget that student athletes are human and deal with struggles and adversity just like everyone else.