\u201cThere has always been a stigma of \u2018You\u2019re supposed to be mentally tough, not emotional,\u2019 in athletics,\u201d according to sports psychologist at University of Washington Ron Chamberlin in \u2018How stigma interferes with mental health care.\u2019 \u201cIt\u2019s gotten in the way of a serious look at the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to USA Today, recent studies have shown that athletes may be at an increased risk for mental health problems, with factors such as injuries, competitive failure and overtraining that can lead to psychological distress.<\/p>\n
\u201cI transferred to Harding from a state school, so that was a difficult transition to make,\u201d senior midfielder for women\u2019s soccer Rachel Bacon said. \u201cBeing an athlete, as well and having a social life mid-school year was a challenge. It wasn\u2019t an easy transition, but it was what needed to be done for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bacon played women\u2019s soccer for three and a half years at Harding, but had to sit out the majority of her senior year due to a leg injury. This was her first serious injury while playing for the Lady Bisons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was physically weak when I came to Harding, so I redshirted my freshman year so I could get stronger,\u201d sophomore forward of the men\u2019s basketball team Gojko Djokovic said. \u201cThat year was really difficult, because you do all of the work and even extra in practice, but you get no playing time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout 2004, there were 200,000 injury reports, which is around 12,500 injuries per year, according to the NCAA and the National Athletic Trainers\u2019 Association. The number of injuries have been relatively consistent over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, I coped with my injury really well,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cThen I hit that three or four week marker where I didn\u2019t know why it wasn\u2019t getting better. It was hard. There were some days where I did not want to get out of bed. But I kept on trying. After a few more weeks of rehab, I figured out what the problem was and I was able to bounce back from that. I was able to play the last four games of my senior season.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to redshirting his freshman year, Djokovic is currently dealing with a knee injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a lot of ups and downs mentally, especially my first year,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cI\u2019ve had minor and major injuries for the past year, so that has also been a challenge. I love playing ball and it is hard sitting on the sideline and just (watching).\u201d<\/p>\n
Djokovic, a Serbian native, said social and religious pressures play a role in mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t come from a Church of Christ background and not even a protestant background; I\u2019m Eastern Orthodox Christian,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cWe do certain things and express ourselves differently. So at first when I came to Harding, I kind of felt choked with some things. Once I got used to it, though, I\u2019ve learned to like it here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many athletes come from foreign countries and have different faith backgrounds. Athletes have to learn to adapt, according to, senior tennis player Gabriella Alves. Harding has also played a significant role in transforming her faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing baptized here, there\u2019s something about Harding that is special to me,\u201d Alves said. \u201cEven though I got suspended freshman year and it was a rough start, I was able to come back. I\u2019ve really come to see that this is a special place. One day, I will be able to come back and see where I made great memories and where I met Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harding has more than 365 athletes competing in 18 different sports, as well as students from all 50 states and 54 different nations. Being homesick is another factor that contributes to athletes\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing an only child and English not being my first language were two of my challenges when I first came here,\u201d Alves said. \u201cI missed home sometimes, and it was a challenge learning the language.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alves is a native of Sao Paulo Brazil and has been playing tennis since she was 5 years old. She came to Harding to play tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be perfect in everything I do, and in tennis, I just always want that perfect shot,\u201d Alves said. \u201cSo, when there is a day I\u2019m not playing well, it affects me a lot. When I first started playing, sometimes me playing bad ruined my day. I used to put so much pressure on myself. I\u2019ve definitely gotten better with managing that though.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing these athletes have in common is they each find help in talking to others. The worst way to deal with personal or mental issues is to isolation, according to Bacon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got into a slump where I wasn\u2019t motivated, and I felt bad for putting my emotions on other people, because I already had been talking so much,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cI felt bad for talking, so then I just stopped. I think if I had to go back I would change how I acted and not get as upset as I did. It\u2019s hard in the moment to realize that things will get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
If someone needs help, it will always be there for them at Harding, through friends, mentors or the counseling center, Alves said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ever struggle with something, just remember there is always someone to talk to,\u201d Alves said. \u201cAlways, always, always.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThere has always been a stigma of \u2018You\u2019re supposed to be mentally tough, not emotional,\u2019 in athletics,\u201d according to sports psychologist at University of Washington Ron Chamberlin in \u2018How stigma…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15049,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15049"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10218,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10217\/revisions\/10218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}