Student-Athletes: Mental toughness is all a façade

           College is an extremely stressful time for students. Classes become exponentially harder, workload increases, and classes are taken much more seriously. When you add the factor of playing a collegiate-level sport into the mixture, the stressors continue to pile on. Student-athletes have tolling jobs trying to balance life, school, their sports, and sometimes even a job on top of it all. This rigorous lifestyle greatly impacts the mental health of many athletes in a plethora of ways. The stress due to balancing the workload of school, life, and athletics, facing a stigma surrounding mental health and mental toughness, and being held to a higher standard with the pressure of succeeding in both athletics and academics has a great effect on student athletes’ mental health throughout the nation.

            College is not always fun and games. Most students attend college to earn a degree and learn. With that, classes are much more challenging, and students are faced with higher levels of work. Having to balance a heavy workload, possibly a job, a social life, plus life in general, can be an extremely daunting and stressful task for many student-athletes. To begin with, Aris Karagiorgakis and Emily R. Blaker state in their research “The Effects of Stress on USCAA Student-Athlete Academics and Sport Enjoyment”, “student-athletes have to make room for their sport commitment in their already busy school and work schedules, whereas traditional students do not need to manage this additional responsibility” (Blaker and Karagiorgakis 1).  Student-athletes face the same workload as any regular college student, and on top of that, have their sports to worry about. Non-student-athletes already face high levels of stress when it comes to college, but they get the advantage over student-athletes, where they don’t have to balance their sports games, practices, film sessions, and other meetings into the picture. These factors of busy schedules and high maintenance schedules add to the stress of student-athletes, which ultimately affects their mental health status. Juggling busy schedules and trying to find time for non-sports or school-related activities can become a daunting task and yet another thing to have to worry about. To further explain and support, Shelly Holden claims, “A primary concern regarding the prevalence of mental illness among student-athletes is it may affect their success in academics and athletics as well as their general well-being. Depression and anxiety, a byproduct of stress, have been found to be significant predictors of a lower grade-point average and poor athletic performance and they also seem to be highly correlated with suicide” (Holden 1).  High levels of stress can trigger many different mental illnesses. Since student-athletes face these levels of stress daily, the concern for their mental health begins to rise. These stress factors can directly correlate to the feelings of anxiety and depression that many student-athletes experience. These feelings of haplessness can lead to both their grades and athletic performance being negatively impacted. Coaches and colleges demand student-athletes to have extremely rigorous schedules, leading to student-athletes having little to no downtime for themselves, causing stress to accumulate. In Emily Blaker’s words, “Considering the hours that student-athletes devote to practice, conditioning, travel, and competitions – coupled with the time it takes to complete their schoolwork – they have very little time for themselves. As a result, NCAA student-athletes may have higher stress and anxiety levels, a higher chance of depression, and may be more likely to feel more secluded from their social groups” (Blaker and Karagiorgakis 1). The number of time student-athletes put into both their academic and athletic lives cause them to have a limited social life, and limited time for themselves. Student-athletes are constantly traveling, in hotel rooms, missing class, having to make things up with their professors and playing a never-ending game of catch up. The busy schedule is accompanied with many responsibilities that begin to pile up and cause stress. This can raise the chances of student-athletes facing declines in mental health, increasing the risk of depression and other mental illnesses. Not having enough time to step back and take time for self-care can be mentally tolling and amplify stress levels. Whenever people are faced with such large amounts of stress and have no time to even acknowledge it, mental health issues start to arise. Student-athletes are constantly faced with this predicament of high levels of stress, and little time to manage it.

            Student-athletes are supposed to be the tough guys on campus. They are supposed to be strong and gritty, and represent the campus, wearing the school’s name proudly across their chest. They are the example setters for their peers and incoming students, people look to them. This higher standard that student-athletes often face includes the idea of having to be resilient and strong. These ideas create a huge stigma around athletes’ mental health and lead to many athletes feeling lost or alone when they are trying to or need to seek help. According to Heather Ryan, “Student-athletes often find themselves in a conflicted environment where seeking help conflicts with the concept of mental toughness, which is the very core of what they are expected to exhibit in their athletic endeavors” (Ryan 8). This idea of athletes needing to be strong, and mentally tough greatly impacts athletes, and their likelihood to seek help from a professional. Not reaching out has a negative effect on many student-athletes, greatly impacting their lives and levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. Not getting the proper help and support you need can be detrimental to your well-being. The standard of toughness that athletes get held to seriously impacts them. Athletes become confused and scared when it comes to deciding if they should reach out for help. The pressure of being mentally tough often does exactly the opposite and prevents student-athletes from reaching that level of mental and emotional stability. Being told to or expected to be mentally tough is not going to aid student-athletes in any way, it will just place pressure on them. Athletes need to be informed on how to be mentally tough, and the idea that not all athletes are mentally tough or were always mentally tough should be acknowledged so fewer athletes are confused and struggling. Mathew Bird suggests in his research “…only 10% of student-athletes who are experiencing anxiety or depression seek mental health services” (Bird 1). An extremely low number of student-athletes look for the help that they require for their mental health. This evidence further proves how the stigma and standard student-athletes are held to affect their mental health is a great way and lowers the chances of them improving on their mental health. These standards are preventing student-athletes from leading a healthy lifestyle. Student-athletes are scared to come off as weak to others including their teammates, coaches, and peers, leading to them suppressing their feelings, and keeping them to themselves. David Bird also suggests in his research, “Many athletes underestimate or minimize the severity of the problem for which they are experiencing, and do not believe it warrants seeking professional help” (Bird 2).  Student-athletes tend to brush off their problems, instead of acknowledging them and coming to the realization of how serious the matter is. These feelings most likely stem from the stigma, and not wanting to come off as weak or incapable. Some student-athletes are not even aware of what they are doing, due to the lack of education and representation of student athletes’ mental health. Student-athletes are also away from home and away from their family members. Finding a person that they are comfortable talking to can be a challenge since many of the people in their lives are new. The fear of being judged by a teammate or a coach can begin to set in since they are still unfamiliar with each other. This issue can be especially prevalent with freshman and transfer students since they are making new connections and surrounded by new people. Trying to brush off a problem and forget about it becomes tempting when the only other option is the daunting choice of talking to a new person about their feelings. Making new connections can be difficult, especially when they are deep and intimate. Overall, when it comes to seeking help, many student athletes find that brushing it off, ignoring it, or trying to deal with it on their own, the easiest option.

            To add to the stress and pressure student-athletes face, many student-athletes are required to maintain certain GPAs to remain on a team or maintain a scholarship. Coaches and universities hold their athletes to certain expectations when it comes to their grades. This brings their academics into their sports, combining the pressure of both aspects into one. Shelly Holden claims “Interestingly, 40 percent of all collegiate student-athletes receiving scholarship money transfer, quit school completely, or do not graduate within six years. Moreover, athlete stress is not limited to the highest level of competition” (Holden 1).  The stress of maintaining a scholarship causes student-athletes to face major burnout leading to them dropping out or not completing their academics in the expected time frame, having to balance both athletics and academics can become way too much for many student-athletes, and they crack under the pressure.  Patti Parker notes, “A recent study of over 28,000 college students found 51% of students reported high anxiety, and 84% felt overwhelmed by their responsibilities…These challenges coupled with other academic and social commitments along with contextual factors can cause students significant levels of stress” (Parker 1).  Not only student-athletes, but most students feel or have felt that their college lives, and work is too much. So many college students are facing high levels of stress. Adding the balancing act of playing a sport on top of that only adds more stress and anxiety. The academic and athletic pressures often become too much for student-athletes to handle, since it is even more than the normal college student encounters. Add in traveling for hours on a bus, missing classes weekly, facing the pressure of playoff games and finals on top of tests in classes, midterms and finals. All these factors add up and cause athletes to face major levels of stress. Karagiorgakis and Blaker argue, “Student-athletes may also face additional stressors, such as the pressure to win, conflict with coaches or teammates, the constant possibility of being benched, the pressure to perform in practice and during competition, and academic pressures to maintain a certain GPA to stay on the team” (Blaker and Karagiorgakis 1).  Athletes face huge amounts of pressure from their sports, and even from themselves. Putting the pressure of succeeding in their athletics and getting playing time along with the pressure of having a high GPA all adds up.  Everything in a student-athletes life piles up and can eventually get to them. So much pressure is placed on an individual and it can become hard to manage, having great effects on mental health. The pressures that athletes face isn’t just during their season too. The sport is a yearlong commitment. Out of season they are faced with workouts, meetings and off-season tournaments. Even athletes’ summers are taken over by their sport, placing the pressure of staying in shape and preparing for the next season. They never seem to catch a break, and this pressure can be a constant feeling.

            Student-athletes live rigorous lifestyles and have demanding schedules which have a great impact on their mental health. Facing pressure from their sports and academics, stigma surrounding their mental health, and being held to a higher standard causes a toll on many student-athletes’ mental state. College students in general are faced with so many stressors and tons of pressure. Add being committed to a sports team into the picture and the responsibilities, stressors and pressure become much stronger than the normal college student must face. These factors have such a negative impact on student-athletes mental health and need to be better recognized, and controlled so student-athletes can lead happier, healthier lifestyles.

Works Cited

Bird, Matthew D., et al. “Student-Athletes’ Mental Health Help-Seeking Experiences: A Mixed   Methodological Approach.” Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, vol. 34, no. 1,           Jan. 2020, pp. 59–77. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/87568225.2018.1523699

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Holden, Shelley L., et al. “Sport Locus of Control and Perceived Stress Among College

Student-Athletes.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,   vol. 16, no. 16, MDPI, 2019, p. 2823– https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16162823

Karagiorgakis, Aris and Emily R. Blaker The Effects of Stress on Uscaa Student

Athlete Academics and Sport Enjoyment.” College Student Journal, vol. 55, no. 4, Dec.   2021, pp. 429–39. EBSCOhost,

Parker, Patti C., et al. “Attribution-Based Motivation Treatment Efficacy in High-Stress   Student Athletes: A Moderated-Mediation Analysis of Cognitive, Affective, and       Achievement Processes.” Psychology of Sport & Exercise, vol. 35, Mar. 2018, pp 189      97. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.12.002.

Ryan, Heather, et al. “Student‐Athletes and Mental Health Experiences.” New Directions for       Student Services, vol. 2018, no. 163, Wiley Subscription Services, Inc, 2018 pp. 67         79, https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.20271.