By Aidan Casey | Guest Writer
Student-athletes train year-round to stay physically and mentally prepared for their sport. While they hope to compete throughout the season, the reality is that injuries are common among student-athletes.
The physical impact of an injury is what is most commonly discussed, but the effects that these injuries can have on their mental health are often overlooked.
When they are unable to compete in their sport, student-athletes can feel a loss of hope and grow distant from their teammates and coaches. As a result, teammates might not be aware of the struggles that the student-athlete is experiencing beyond their physical injury.
This can create a rift within a team and lead to poor communication on the field
The people who you are supposed to be able to lean on tell you that “you need to toughen up” and that “you are just being selfish.”
There is such a toxic environment that you are placed in when you get hurt, where people are constantly doubting you, players are rude, and coaches give up on you, all of which rarely come to light.
People often preach the importance of mental health in the athletic atmosphere, but they never know what those who get hurt go through on a day-to-day basis.
“There are a million things that go through your head when you’re hurt, and you feel so isolated and feel like you can’t go to teammates to talk about what you’re going through,” said Hudson Royer, a first-year member of the Lynchburg men’s lacrosse team who has been on the bench all season after tearing his ACL.
Mental health is so important, but it is really put to the test when you go through issues like this, and the locker room and team environment can be so toxic and unforgiving.
According to Nebraska Medicine, “Sharing feelings and concerns with coaches, medical teams, family, and friends can lessen emotional burdens.”
Although this seems very easy, reaching out to talk to people when you’re going through something is very challenging, especially when you’re told by your closest teammates and coaches to “toughen up.”
Mental health in the athletic department needs to be taken more seriously because the silent battles people are going through are almost unbearable.
“Being hurt was a big test on my mental health through the years, but I can say one thing — having someone to talk about my struggles with helped me more than anyone could know,” said Cole Zacharias, a senior member of the men’s lacrosse team who has spent almost half of his career off the field due to injury.
If teams made mental health more normalized and more of a priority, players wouldn’t have to suffer in silence.
So the next time someone on your team is hurt, reach out to them and ask how they are really doing.
