Erin Mescher

Professor Hellmers

English-1201

22 October 2019

Online Casebook

My essay will attempt to answer whether participating in sports benefits your mental

health or if it hurts your mental health. I want to figure out if there are more cons than pros in

participating in a sport. If it is beneficial, how beneficial is it? What are specific examples of how

it is beneficial and non beneficial? Lastly, if specific sports are more beneficial than others?

Affleck, John, and Sports Journalism and Society. “Why It Matters That More Athletes Are

Talking about Their Mental Health.” The Conversation, 2 July 2019,

http://theconversation.com/why-it-matters-that-more-athletes-are-talking-about-their-

mental-health-118667.

In the article “Why It Matters That More Athletes Are Talking about Their Mental Health”

by John Affleck and Sports Journalism and Society, the author states specific examples with

specific sports at specific ages affects people’s mental health. The article states that it doesn’t

matter what sport you play nor the gender for you to me more immune to mental health issues.

Many professional athletes suffer from depression due to not getting the results the athlete

expects. Social media plays a big role too. Having to be in constant spotlight, it puts a lot of

pressure on the athlete to perform well.

The author's purpose of this article was to prove to people how different levels of sports

at different ages affects mental health. The article pushes people to focus on how severe this

problem is and open people's eyes. Since this is a very recent article, we know this is a recent
issue going on. The audience of this article can be anyone interested in mental health and or

how it correlated with sports.

The article was posted on The Conversation which is a credible news source. This

source was written by John Affleck and Sports Journalism and Society who is a journalist and

leader at The Associated Press, and serves as a sports enterprise editor.

I will be using this article in my essay to help me backup how how different levels of

sports at different ages affects mental health. Specifically, how specific professional athletes are

affected.

Brown, Aubreigh, Personal interview. 16 October 2019.

In my personal interview with Aubreigh Brown, I learned personal experiences she had

throughout her life with volleyball. Aubreigh stated that playing sports is very mentally tough

especially when you sit the bench and have coaches that get on you all the time. Aubreigh has

been in sports since a very young age playing soccer and volleyball. In High School she

focused mainly on volleyball.

She played on Jv her Freshman and Sophomore year. Her Junior year she made

varsity. In a pre season scrimmage she went down and tore her acl. The doctors told her that

she was gonna be able to finish the season and get surgery after the season ended. Although

during the season, her coach didn’t play her and she maybe played 3 sets during her Junior

year. She was very upset with this because she was suffering through all this pain to be able to

play. She would constantly go home after practice and games very upset. This was very hard on

her because she was in constant pain and frustration. This led her to not play volleyball her

Senior year.
 Aubreigh is a credible source because she has been in sports her whole life. She has

many ups and downs while playing. Overall, she said her life this year is completely different

since she isn’t playing volleyball. She stated that she actually has time to work and make money

and hang out with her family and friends.

I will be using this in my essay to explain a specific example of how a high school athlete

has been affected. Specifically, how getting hurt affect athletes mental health too.

Bryant, Kevin, and Cari Wood. “Challenges of Mental-Health Issues in High School

Athletics.” NFHS, 5 Feb. 2019, https://nfhs.org/articles/challenges-of-mental-health-

issues-in-high-school-athletics/.

In the article “Challenges of Mental-Health Issues in High School Athletics” by Kevin

Bryant and Cari Wood, the author states what it’s like to be a student athlete. Now a days, there

are more and more high school athletes using anti-anxiety medication and having to deal with

depression. An estimated 31.9 percent of adolescents have some form of anxiety. Participating

in a sport can make you have the mindset of just play through it or no pain, no gain, which puts

a lot of stress and pain on the athlete.

The author's purpose of this article is to get people’s attention about how big of an issue

mental health in athletes is and what you can do to help the athletes. This article pushes the

reader to bring the solutions and help athletes in their lives who are struggling with mental

health issues. Especially, allowing the coaches to be exposed to the issue with athletes and

how they can help them.

The article was posted on the National Federation of State High School Associations

(NFHS) which is a credible source. The authors are Kevin Bryant, who is the district athletic
director for the Redmond School District, and Cari Wood has been the athletic trainer at

Redmond High School since 1994.

I will be using this in my essay to help me show how people are going about this

problem with mental health in athletes. Specifically, what Redmond School District is doing with

their coaching staff and athletes.

Carr, Chris, and Jamie Davidson. “Mind, Body and Sport: The Psychologist Perspective.”

NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA, 18 July 2017, http://www.ncaa.org/sport-

science-institute/mind-body-and-sport-psychologist-perspective

In the article “Mind, Body and Sport: The Psychologist Perspective” by Chris Carr and

Jamie Davidson, the author states all the demands on student athletes and challenges with the

slow growth of psychologists that deal with student-athlete mental health. Once a mental health

issue, resources are limited. Also, athletes tend to keep their personal thoughts to themselves

and not tell anyone.

The author's purpose of this essay is to let everyone understand what challenges they

may face with sports psychology not growing rapidly. Sports psychology involves a lot of work

and time. You have to be able to have individual counseling for student-athletes at any time they

need you, coordinate abuse/ eating disorder services, educate the staff, and consult the athletic

department on any serious issues.

The article was posted on NCAA, which is The National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The NCAA regulates student athletes from over 1,200 institutions and conferences. They are a

reliable source because they can pull data from across all different conferences, sports, and

teams to pull together their conclusions. They clearly have found mental health to be a problem

across the board and not just one team or individual.

 I will be using this in my article to help show exactly what a sports psychologist does and

how demanding it is to be a student-athlete.

Flanagan, Linda. “Why Are So Many Teen Athletes Struggling With Depression?” The

Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 17 Apr. 2019,

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/04/teen-athletes-mental-

illness/586720/.

In the article “Why Are So Many Teen Athletes Struggling With Depression?” by Linda

FLanagan, it describes Isabella’s life and what she had to overcome. Isabella tore her ACL

during the summer of her Junior year, and she was unable to come back and play lacrosse that

season. She started to eat more and more and later developed an eating disorder. She stated

that since she wasn’t playing lacrosse she didn’t know what to do with her life.

The authors purpose of this article was to push the audience to understand how athletes

tend to get over trained and become mentally and physically exhausted, which then leads

athletes to have mental health problems due to being so competitive and always wanting to win.

All of the extra time spent practicing opens athletes up to become more vulnerable to injuries,

which can be very emotionally challenging for an athlete. Like Isabella stated, most athletes are

so used to having practice or a game everyday, when they are given free time they don’t know

what to do.

This article is credible because it ties in key statistics and people to back up their

information stated in the article. Since this article was written fairly recently we know that it is a

current problem. The author of this article, Linda Flanagan, is a freelance writer and is a High

School Cross Country coach. Her work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The New

York Times, and Newsweek.

 I will be using this in my essay to show how getting hurt and overtrained affects an

athlete.

Garrick, Victoria, director. Athletes and Mental Health: The Hidden Opponent. TEDxUSC, 2

June 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdk7pLpbIls.

In the Ted Talk “Athletes and Mental Health: The Hidden Opponent” by Victoria Garrick,

she explains how physically and mentally challenging participating in a sport is. Being a student

athlete can be very hard. You constantly have practice and have to perform to your greatest

ability and you don’t have time to focus on school. Being a division one athlete, is very time

consuming and your world revolves around the sport you play. You constantly ask yourself if

this is how your life should be.

The speaker's purpose of this ted talk was to prove to student athletes that they aren’t

the only one who is having issues. Many college athletes think that the students are going to

college to play their sport, but in reality they are coming to graduate and move on into the real

world with a well paying job. Athletes tend to have have 16 credit hours of class with required

tutoring and office hours, practice, 6 am lifting, games out of state, and homework. Athletes

literally have no time to do anything. This can be physically and mentally challenging for an

athlete, especially if they aren’t playing well or struggling in school.

The speaker is a credible source because she herself was a college athlete and went

through the struggle. She was able to explain her side of the story and allow the audience to

know they aren’t alone. Ted Talks are credible as well because they select certain stories and

only allow the good ones to be recorded.

I will be using this in my essay of a hands on examples of an athlete going through all of

this and how she was able to overcome it.

 Wahlstrom, Tomi. “Mental Health and Sports.” The Sport Digest, 29 Oct. 2018,

http://thesportdigest.com/2018/10/mental-health-and-sports/.

In the article “Mental Health and Sports” by Tomi Wahlstorm, explains all of the

consequences that come with mental illnesses. It can end up destroying lives and careers.

Many people who have mental illnesses, can’t help themselves and don’t even realize they are

having these issues. Many people deny their symptoms and turn to alcohol and drugs or self-

destructive behaviors. This leads to having social issues and people tend to isolate themselves

which leads to complications.

The author’s purpose of this article is to explain all of the consequences from mental

illnesses. Also, how to help prevent mental illnesses by addressing it early and allowing the

athletes to open up in a comfortable environment.

The author is a credible source because he is a dr and he has written any different

articles throughout his career. Tomi Wahlström was a former clinician and psychotherapist,

and was interested in how physical exercise helps with depression and anxiety, which

resulted in the field called exercise psychology.

I will be using this in my paper to show the lifelong effects that come from

mental illnesses. Also to show some of the benefits from participating in a sport.