Playing Sports: Effects on Physical and Mental Health

I will explore sports' positive and negative effects on student athletes' mental and physical health. However, the result of a sport all depends on the athlete themselves and how much they can and/or are willing to endure. It all depends on how far they are willing to go for the sport itself. Much like school, a sport can become very time-consuming. Imagine the pressure while balancing both a sport and schoolwork. As a result, you find yourself asking, “Can playing a sport worsen my mental health,” “Can it help me learn time management?”, “Will I truly be able to handle the pressure of a sport if I start to fall behind in school?” These questions and concerns go not only through an athlete's mind but through the coaches, teachers, and parents. 
Physical Health: 

     There are many advantages to joining a sport. Some are weight gain control; lower cholesterol levels; improved blood circulation, stronger immunity, muscles, and bones. In this time and day, a person’s physical health is very important not only for aesthetic purposes but for the consequences that come with poor eating habits, which eventually may result in obesity. Alternatively, obesity can also come from a lack of physical activity. Not only does exercise lower the risks of being obese, but also it improves your blood circulation. When you play any sport, your heart rate begins to accelerate, putting more pressure on the muscles in your heart. Thus, additional pressure strengthens heart muscles and improves blood flow. As a result, you are significantly lowering the risks of heart disease in the future. It's obvious that a major benefit of doing sports is that you have stronger muscles and bones as long as you put in the work needed to achieve performance in the sport. 

     However, there are also disadvantages to joining a sport. These disadvantages often include common or serious injuries, excessive stress, exhaustion, expenses, and time consumption. Unfortunately, injuries inherently come with playing a sport. They can be anything from a minor muscle pull or sprain all the way to broken bones and maybe even worse. As you get older, injuries are more likely to happen. In addition to an injury come the consequences. A significant key aspect of an injury is the time it takes to recover from one: the struggle, pain, and stress of it all. Over time, sports can become very time-consuming, which means a lot of practice, coaching sessions, games, and tournaments. Thus, leading to more possibilities of getting injured. They are ultimately causing your body to become very exhausted over time.
Mental Health:

     In addition to physical disadvantages, there are many mental disadvantages in doing sports, such as additional stress, pressure from others and yourself, possible isolation, lack of motivation and sleep, frustration, and changes in appetite. Many high expectations from parents and coaches lead to added pressure and mental issues. Youth athletes are viewed as tiny adults in sports, and this causes coaches and parents to work them as hard as they would an adult. Our brains as youth are not fully developed, so it may be harder to handle the competitive and strenuous nature of playing sports all year round - mentally and physically. Dr. Pardini from Banner Health states, “This hyper-focused, year-round training is associated with stress, burnout, and even withdrawal from sports altogether. These athletes experience less fun and perceived increased criticism”. He implies that the added stress, pressure, and lack of sleep are a common result of year-round training and high expectations for practice, games, and tournaments in addition to school. 

     Not only does the pressure affect athletes’ mental health, but so does early specialization. Early specialization might also restrict the athlete’s identity development and may lead to isolation. This leads to them missing out on normal teenage activities such as family events, non-sporting activities with friends, and even developing friendships with other youth that have diverse interests outside of sports. Furthermore, there are lots of mental disadvantages to injuries that depend on the athlete. In serious cases, injuries can put the athletes playing career at stake. In these cases, the athletic trainer or team physician will be prepared to address this with the athlete.  Problematic reactions to the injury can include a lack of calorie intake, depression due to not being able to play the sport they love, and loss of emotional stability. 

     From the evidence shown, you get a look at the negative mental aspects that come from playing a sport. However, there are also positive mental advantages to joining a sport. One is the environment that teammates create in an athlete’s sport, which can additionally improve their mood and help boost their confidence. Other positive benefits are reduction of stress, improvement in depression, and sleeping habits. Sports lower stress by releasing endorphins during physical activity. Endorphins are the chemicals in the brain that not only help reduce stress but pain as well. Studies have shown that just 20-30 minutes of daily exercise allows the individual to stay calmer, and that feeling can last for hours after completing the exercise. The increase in self-confidence comes from the fact that while engaging in any kind of sport, your strength and skills increase. Therefore, improving your self-confidence. Equally important is the huge help it can give to an athlete to fight against depression or any other mental illnesses that may come to them if they choose not to take the initiative of finding help to solve these problems.

     To summarize, there are both negatives and positives, mentally and physically, when it comes to playing a sport. Do not take what I have said to heart because all of this depends on who the athlete is and how they react to certain things. However, make sure that when you are doing sports, you take care of yourself. Do not prioritize the sport over your mental and physical health. Your health is more important than anything else, and the advantages and disadvantages all depend on the athlete. Ultimately, everyone has a different mindset and way that they cope with certain challenges that come their way.