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Sports and Mental Health

More than 50% of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness. This statistic from

the Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s website shows how a majority of Americans will

experience one mental illness or another in their lifetime. But mental health is still a topic seldom

talked about. This is a problem because I have seen firsthand how necessary it is to talk about

mental health in order to treat it. If it is heavily stigmatized then not enough people will take the

steps required to improve themselves. It is reasonably easy to look at a person with a physical

illness and see that something is wrong, but often with mental illnesses, it is near impossible to

know what someone is going through unless they tell you.

I have often heard how exercise can improve your mental health. Everyone knows about

the “runner’s high” or how someone feels great after working out. And while sports are a great

source of exercise, one thing not talked about very much is the negative impact sports can have on

one’s mental health. The pressure to succeed, put on by either the athlete themselves or someone

else (coaches, parents, friends, etc.), can have a negative effect on their mental health. Despite this,

there are still many benefits that sports can have on someone’s mental health. It has been proven

that exercise releases endorphins and other chemicals in the body associated with feeling the

emotion of happiness and improving mental health.

I have done sports throughout my entire life. In elementary school, I participated in a

variety of sports, but the one that has had the largest impact on my life is swimming. I swam for

Northgate all four years of high school and for Woodlands Swim Team for the past 13 years. I

have seen, and experienced, firsthand how sports can impact one’s mental health, both positively

and negatively.

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While I have never been very good at any sports, they have been a major part of my life for

as long as I can remember. I wanted to make sure that my Senior Project included something to do

with sports. I also incorporated mental health, since it is a topic I am very interested in and

something that I feel is not talked about enough. I have also experienced mental health issues and

thought that this would be a great opportunity to learn more about it while researching for my

project. This has led me to my question: how do sports affect one’s mental health?

Overall, sports lead to a positive impact on a person’s mental health. People participating in

sports can better their mental health in addition to their physical well-being: “Elite sport, and sports

in general, offer many opportunities to promote mental health (MH). The positive effects of regular

exercise on MH and well-being are well established for both youth and adults” (Larsen). Both

sports at the elite level and sports, in general, can improve people’s mental health. This effect is

shown for both children and adults, so sports can help almost anyone with improving their mental

health. In addition to that, sports have been linked to helping people deal with various disorders:

“Physical activity has also been tied to improved behavior, including in those with behavioral

health disorders such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, and anxiety”

(“Being Physically Active”). Physical activity, often found through sports, have shown to help

people with some disorders; including some directly tied to mental health, like anxiety and

depression. Physical exercise has been shown to directly improve mental health as well: “Regular

exercise can greatly improve symptoms of an emotional disturbance. Not only does it promote

good overall health and increase self-esteem and appearance, but it also has been shown to

decrease levels of anxiety and depression” (“Mental Health”). This shows how not only regular

exercise helps mental illnesses, but also self-esteem and appearance. Improving on all of these

bases can better one’s mental health. Multiple studies have shown the connection between physical

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activity, which many people get mostly through participation in sports, and improving mental

health. But as for studies about the connection between sports specifically and mental health:

“Research on wrestlers, runners, and oarsmen found lower levels of depression, tension, hostility,

and fatigue among more successful athletes when compared with their peers and with the general

population” (“Sports Psychology”). When research was conducted on a specific set of a few

sports, they were shown to have fewer issues with mental health than their peers. Then, other

forms of physical activity have been shown to help with mental health as well: “Physical activity

and exercise, especially noncompetitive activities like walking, running, yoga, dancing, and

swimming, can help to manage stress” (“Physical Fitness”). These physical activities, most of

which are parts of sports themselves, have been shown to help with managing stress. And with

better stress management, people’s mental health improves, showing the direct link of how sports

can improve someone’s mental health. It has been shown how sports can benefit the athlete, but

this is not always the case.

While many benefit from participating in sports, there are times when sports do not help

with mental health, but make it worse. It was previously mentioned how participating in high

school can have many benefits to the athlete, but there are also some downsides that can occur:

“One common concern is that sports may be overemphasized, either by the school or the student,

and may take away focus from academic activities or other crucial facets of development” ("High

School Sports"). Sports can start to take up too much of the athlete's time, causing the athlete to

become too focused and lose out on other potential positive benefactors of mental health. When

athletes become too engrossed in their sport, the benefits of participating in a sport become negated

and can have a negative effect on the athlete’s mental health. This has been shown in studies:

“However, the drawbacks of excessive training or competitive sport activity on mental health

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increasing the risks of injury [8] and sport dropout [7] were reported” (Fossati). Too much focus on

a sport can cause negative effects on people's mental health and cause people to stop participating

in it, completely removing any potential benefits from participating. My mentor Nick Bazan also

agrees with this statement, “Once you stop enjoying the sport and it becomes more of a job or a

chore then you need to take a break or something because… it's no longer good for your mental

health. And you're going to struggle to keep doing. It is just a downward spiral from there.” Bazan,

or as I call him, Coach Nick, is twenty-seven now and has been swimming since he was four years

old as well as coaching since he was thirteen. He talked about how it is important to enjoy

whatever sport you do, or else it stops being good for your mental health. Not only would you lose

out on the potential benefits of participating in sports, but it can also make your mental health

worse. Sports can have some very major negative effects if you are taking them too seriously, and

Bazan has experienced this firsthand,

I was at the pool at like seven, 6:30 in the morning, all the way to like 8 o'clock at night

like every single day and I was just exhausted because then I go hang out with like friends

because you know, we're all going to college and stuff at night. And so I just wasn't getting

like, I chose, you know, work social life without any sleep because, you know, it's a

triangle that you have to decide and I- One day, I like an hour break in between coaching

and lifeguarding and I had to take my sister to her softball practice and I just passed out

while driving just in total my car and with her in it too, like thankfully she was okay but

like car, totally gone.

Bazan talks about how big of a toll swimming was taking on his life and mental health, and how it

eventually culminated with him being so tired that he fell asleep while driving, crashing his car

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with his sister in it. Sports can enact a serious toll on the athlete’s mental health, but as long as they

do not emphasize it too much and still enjoy doing their sport, it still has many benefits.

Physical activity, which athletes can obtain through sports, is scientifically proven to be

linked with better mental health. People have always said anecdotally how exercising can make

you feel better, but there are also studies that prove this connection. For example, “According to

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), doing some kind of physical activity or

exercise on a regular basis helps to… improve self-esteem, as well as reduce stress, anxiety,

depression,...” (“Physical Fitness”). The CDC has proven the link between physical activity and

improving mental health illnesses. And sports are a great way to get exercise on a regular basis,

with practices happening on a consistent basis. This shows how if people are participating in

sports, their mental health could improve as a result. Paul Abrinko, a child psychiatrist, agrees with

this: “So yes, 100% physical activity has an impact on mental well-being. It doesn't have to be

super vicarious, Some people think you should do really hard, you know, aerobic activity to get

like the runners high. I don't think that that's important. But I think it's it's important to move and to

play.” Abrinko talked about how he would try to get his patients to do some sort of physical

activity to get them active and to improve their mental health. Sports are a great source of physical

activity that many people do, giving them the benefits of physical activity. As for why exercising

makes people feel better, “About 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity is enough to stimulate

endorphins, proteins in the brain that act as the body's natural pain reliever. When endorphins are

released, people feel content, happy, and relaxed” (“Physical Fitness”). Even exercising for only

twenty minutes has a physical effect on the body that makes you feel better. This quote also

explains the “runner’s high” people talk about and shows how exercising through sports can

physically make you feel better. Physical fitness, which is found through sports, benefits the

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athlete’s mental health. But sports specifically also can have a benefit, “The overall prevalence of

mental disorders in sport populations was assessed in a survey-based study… This study found a

general prevalence of mental health problems of 11.7%..., whereas the lifetime prevalence was

51.7%...” (Fossati). People who participate in sports are much less likely to have mental health

problems than those who do not. This was determined through a study of various different sports,

with the athletes answering questions about their mental health. Sports have been scientifically

proven to help the athlete with their mental health in the moment, but it also helps athletes later in

their life as well.

Sports during high school are beneficial for the athlete both in the moment and in the

future. Almost everyone has heard about how exercise can help your mental health, and exercise

from sports definitely has the same effect. But high school sports itself can have many benefits too,

“High school sports may help participants in other ways as well, including developing mental,

emotional, and social understandings and abilities” (“High School Sports”). High school sports can

benefit the athlete in many ways, even outside of exercise. This is especially good, considering

how important they are to some people’s lives. High school sports are a major part of an athlete’s

career, and there are studies that show a correlation between people who participate in sports while

in high school, and better mental health in adulthood: “A significant association was reported

between sport involvement during adolescence and lower depressive symptoms…, lower

perceived stress…, and higher self-rated mental health… in early adulthood” (Fossati). Not only do

sports help the athlete at the time of participating, but they also can help them into adulthood. It is

fairly well-known that exercise can help people almost immediately, but there are also studies that

show how sports can help athletes outside of high school. Then, anecdotally, this is also true for

my mentor Nick Bazan. When asked if sports have benefited him in his personal life, Bazan said

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“...being active is super important to mental health. I've struggled with depression in the past and…

being active and moving around helps like so much in alleviating stress and anxiety, and all that.”

Bazan talks about his mental health problems and the importance of exercising while dealing with

these problems. He describes his struggles with mental health in the past and describes the

importance of exercising during that time; showing how staying active and participating in sports

can help you while battling mental health problems. This has shown how sports can benefit a

teenage athlete both in the moment and into adulthood, but the benefits are shown to be there for

younger athletes too.

Participating in sports in childhood has been shown to give benefits later in life as well. It

has been shown how competing in sports as a teenager can help with mental health into adulthood,

but the same is also true with younger children. Kids who have played sports at a very young age

are more likely to have better mental health later in their childhood than those who did not. For

example, “Little boys who play sports are less apt to be anxious or depressed later in childhood and

more likely to be active in their early teens, according to the University of Montreal study” (“For

Boys, Sports Key”). Boys who played sports at a young age are less likely to develop depression,

showing how participation in sports has helped their mental health even later on. They are also

more likely to continue participating in sports, which will continue bettering their mental health. As

for kids who do not participate in sports, “Findings show that boys who never participated in a

sport at age five were more likely to be in either the increasing or declining trajectories during ages

six through 10--more likely to look unhappy and tired, show difficulty having fun, cry often, or

appear fearful” (“Being Physically Active”). Boys who have not participated in sports are more

likely to develop mental health problems than those who did. Meaning sports had helped those

who participated with their mental health since they did not develop as many mental health issues

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as boys who did not. This is again shown in a separate study, “We found that 5-year-old boys who

never participated in sports were more likely between the ages of 6 and 10 to look unhappy and

tired, had difficulty having fun, cried a lot, and appeared fearful or worried” (“For Boys, Sports

Key”). Both of these quotes show how children that did not participate in sports had overall worse

mental health than those that did. They showed more signs of mental health problems than those

who did compete in sports. Participating in sports helped children improve their mental health from

an early age, which helped them later as well. This idea is also proven here, “Conversely, boys

who engaged in sports during their preschool years and demonstrated a higher level of physical

activity at age 12 more often fell into the low emotional distress trajectory category” (“Being

Physically Active”). This quote shows how participating in sports even as young as preschool can

benefit children as late as when they are twelve. It also sets them on a good trajectory for the rest of

their life and leaves them more likely to continue sports as well. And continuing sports throughout

the child’s life has been shown to be just as important as participating in sports when they are

young.

Sports have a variety of effects on someone’s mental health. While it overall has a positive

effect, that does not mean it is only positive. Sports can take too big of a role in a person’s life, and

when that becomes the case, they are doing more harm than good. But overall, sports benefit the

athlete’s mental health. There are various studies that show the correlation between sports and

exercise with an improvement in mental health. Also, there are studies that show how sports can

help people both in the moment and later on in life. People who compete in sports in high school

are more likely to have better mental health in adulthood than those who did not. And children

who participate at a young age are set on a path to having better mental health and are more likely

to continue participating in sports throughout their life; continuing the benefits. Everyone has heard

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about how exercising and sports are good for your mental health. Most have heard about the

negative effects sports can have on mental health. But this has shown evidence for these claims,

cementing the link between sports and mental health.

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Works Cited

Abrinko, Paul. Personal Interview. 22 April 2023.

Bazan, Nick. Personal interview. 11 March 2023.

"Being Physically Active Can Benefit Boys' Mental Health." Camping Magazine, vol. 95, no. 1,

Jan.-Feb. 2022, p. 8. Gale In Context: High School,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A701500696/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=ffa3

d0be. Accessed 1 Feb. 2023.

"For Boys, Sports Key to Mental Health." Consumer Health News, 27 Sept. 2021, p. NA. Gale In

Context: High School,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A676928675/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=5a9

52e6a. Accessed 18 Feb. 2023.

Fossati, C., Torre, G., Vasta, S., Giombini, A., Quaranta, F., Papalia, R., & Pigozzi, F. (2021).

Physical Exercise and Mental Health: The Routes of a Reciprocal Relation. International

Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9039310/

"High School Sports." Gale In Context Online Collection, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: High

School,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/MLUOBH934889032/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=bookmark-SUIC

&xid=07b5fe97. Accessed 18 Feb. 2023.

Larsen, Carsten Hvid, et al. Mental Health in Elite Sport: Applied Perspectives from across the

Globe. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021.

“Sports Psychology." The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, edited by Jacqueline L. Longe, 4th

ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2022, pp. 1195-1197. Gale In Context: High School,

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link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX8273700778/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=8

043d70d. Accessed 1 Feb. 2023.

Wexler, Barbara. "Mental Health." Healthy Living, edited by Elizabeth P. Manar, 2nd ed., vol. 3:

Self Esteem, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Behaviors, Habits, Addictions, and Eating

Disorders, UXL, 2013, pp. 433-481. Gale In Context: High School,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2763900024/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=3

0e2a519. Accessed 8 Feb. 2023.

Wexler, Barbara. "Physical Fitness and Exercise." Healthy Living, edited by Elizabeth P. Manar,

2nd ed., vol. 1: Nutrition, Physical Fitness and Exercise, Personal Care and Hygiene,

Personal Growth and Development, Sexuality, UXL, 2013, pp. 43-75. Gale In Context:

High School,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2763900010/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=e

cee412d. Accessed 8 Feb. 2023.

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