Josh Bailey: 0:00

Psych Bytes with CCS is a weekly podcast hosted by Student Life Counseling and Consultation Service. This show is dedicated to discussing a wide range of topics pertaining to mental health commonly experienced in the college setting. It is important to note that this podcast is not a substitute for therapy. All of the topics on this show, while discussed by professionals are strictly psycho educational, and meant to inform listeners on available resources, skills and support. Topics on this show can be sensitive in nature. And should you find yourself needing additional support or resources, please visit ccs.osu.edu or call us at 614-292-5766. With that in mind, enjoy the show. What is up everybody and welcome to Psych Bytes with CCS. My name is Josh and today we are once again joined by Jake Friedman, a licensed independent social worker, here with us at Counseling and Consultation Service. Jake, welcome back,

Jake Friedman: 1:19

We're back.

Josh Bailey: 1:20

We are back. So today we are going to be talking about athletics and mental health, or athletes and mental health. My first question for you as always, is why?

Jake Friedman: 1:34

When it comes to being an athlete, oftentimes, this is something that people don't necessarily identify as a piece of your identity. When coming to college, a lot of folks who are continuing to play sports, or are ending playing sports, have been playing since they were a young kid, seven, eight years old, maybe even earlier, depending on the sport. When you gain that identity in college, or if you lose it from high school, that can be a really difficult thing to process. And so a lot of mental health concerns come with not only playing the sport itself, but also gaining or losing that identity when coming to college.

Josh Bailey: 2:20

Okay, so that makes a lot of sense. And I can see why that would be an impactful thing. And the idea of losing one's identity, I think sounds scary to anybody, right? Especially you've been banking on a particular sport your entire life to help you progress from elementary to middle to high school, to college, scholarships, whatever. And if I don't necessarily move on to, let's say, a professional world of that sport, then who am I? What am I? What do I do? So I see then why this would come up and be pertinent. When we're thinking about the impacts of identity, when we're thinking about the impacts of being an athlete and mental health, what are some common themes or concerns that come up?

Jake Friedman: 3:08

The main themes that we're seeing are generally anxiety and pressure. People talk about the pressure that comes with any sport, a lot of times individual sports often experience those at a higher level, because it's just you out there. Now, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist for team sports. If you think about the highest levels of any sport, there's going to be pressure, there's going to be anxiety, there's going to be worry about how you're performing. Performance anxiety, as a whole put together, is something that folks experience whether it's giving a speech outside of the field, in a classroom. Anxiety as a whole is a very pertinent thing on college campuses. And when it comes to sports, it's something that can be pervasive across not only an individual, but a team, because they feel like they need to perform. If they don't perform, then their worth drops.

Josh Bailey: 4:05

So how might anxiety present for an individual what might a student athlete or an athlete in general notice as far as anxiety is presentation?

Jake Friedman: 4:14

Anxiety can present in multiple ways. One way it can present is thoughts. Are you continually beating down on yourself for performances or practices or routines that you feel like aren't doing what they need to be doing? Are you telling yourself that you aren't good enough to be where you are, despite being where you are? Other ways that can show up are physical sensations. That can be shaking, some people throw up before games or matches or events. And people look at that and say, "Oh, they're just nervous." Well, yes. And that can be a really extra step beyond nervous of they have some really debilitating performance anxiety and that's one way that people feel like I can release those things. And it turns into a really unhealthy habit moving forward.

Josh Bailey: 5:06

I see. What can we then do about it? What can an individual do if they notice that? Yeah, I'm checking a lot of these boxes, I'm noticing myself getting particularly worked up before a match or a game, in comparison to maybe my peers who seem calm, cool, collected, or at least on some level of appropriate hype before. What can I do to maybe bring that down inside myself, so it isn't debilitating? So it isn't completely overdriving my skills, my ability to perform at the best of my ability?

Jake Friedman: 5:40

I think the key there is, how do we manage it, so it's not debilitating, because at the end of the day, some sort of anxiety or feeling of pressure is not a bad thing. That can allow you to push yourself and motivate yourself to get to the spot that you do want to be. At the end of the day really remembering your"why" is super important. Why are you out here? What are you doing this for? Are you doing it because it was once fun, and you want it to still be fun? Are you doing it because you want to be a part of something and you want to build stronger relationships with people around you? What is the reason that you're out here? And remembering something like that can be really grounding in"I'm creating a situation for myself where I'm not enjoying this anymore, I'm not getting what I want to get out of it. So what is the point, then?" Another thing you can do is more in the skill area, are things that we talk about as grounding techniques. So this can be something like breathing, Noticing your breath, being mindful of your breath is something that is talked about a lot, and some people feel it's silly or simple or stupid. But the research shows that it really is effective. And when we're talking about breathing, we're talking about slow, deep breaths, both in and out. So four count in, which is a 1234, slow drawn out, and then six count out at that same pace. If you can do that two or three times, get yourself under control, recognize where you are, what you're doing who you are those types of things, it can really help you then go into that competition feeling more centered. Another thing you can do is really take a second and recognize what is in your control and what is out of your control. If you're in a sport where there are judges, you don't necessarily have full control over how they see things. It's a subjective situation. What you do have control over is how you prepare, how you present yourself, and how you go out there and execute. Recognizing controls important because it can help with some of those thoughts that are maybe telling you that you do control things that you actually might not. And the last thing I would say is, we talk about something in the biz called the double standard method, which essentially says that you treat yourself the way that you would treat a friend or teammate with a similar problem. So think about the way that you would approach a teammate who is having some of these concerns and talk to yourself in that same kind way. Because 9 times out of 10, we are way kinder to others than we are to ourselves. And yet we deserve that same level of kindness that we are giving to the people around us.

Josh Bailey: 8:21

So oftentimes, we are our own worst enemy. In these moments, and when presented with, "Yeah, would you say that to so and so?" Well, no, of course not. That's not who they are. And that doesn't mean anything about them. Well, then what makes you special? Why are you so deserving then, of this extreme criticism? Or this internal bad mouthing? Right. Something else that you were pointing to earlier is talking about the remembering your why, like, "Why did I start this sport in the first place?" Right? Finding maybe— trying to tap back into the joy of it, because I think we all start on endeavors and hobbies, whether it be athletics, or something adjacent too, because we found it fun. We enjoyed the competition. We enjoyed the camaraderie, you know, we enjoy just being outside or doing something like that. Is there any way for us to kind of tap back into that if we feel we have lost our joy or lost our passion for the sport that we've been playing for X amount of years?

Jake Friedman: 9:21

I believe it is possible. Yes. And it may not be easy. It may not be simple, but it goes back to really simplifying everything. Generally, if you have been an athlete in high school and you go to college, it's a similar feeling to being a student in high school. And then being a student college where you feel like there's this big step up. And at the end of the day, the sport doesn't change. The sport that you're playing is still the sport that you played in high school, or in elementary school. It's still the same exact thing that you got involved with to begin with. It's a different cast of characters. It's a different level in terms of Yes, it is college versus high school, you might be 18 playing against 20 year olds, 22 year olds. But that doesn't change the fact that you can continue the same routines that you had in high school, the same things that brought you joy in even if it's just a pregame song, a pregame, you know, sitting in the locker room and lace up your boots in a certain way. Those are things that really create that sense of calm and joy. Even though they're small, they become bigger things when you start to lose some of the other things that you felt like were really important, such as teammates that you cared about coaches that you cared about. And it can be hard to build those new relationships in this new place. But being vulnerable, not only externally, but internally with yourself. And hey, is this something that's still important to me? Because oftentimes, you may lose that spark, and that's okay. It's okay to stop playing, if you feel like it's not giving you what it used to give you. And there are resources here, such as get involved consultations, where you can meet with somebody and talk about other clubs, other sports, other things that aren't athletics that you can get involved with, and still find people of like-interest, people that you can connect with.

Josh Bailey: 11:17

The thing you were saying there also kind of stood out to me, like you had mentioned, like, moving from the team that I've been with throughout all of my formative years, coming to college, and now being on a new team, you know, the new cast of characters that you alluded to. Leaving all those relationships behind, it can be hard to develop new relationships with that new cast of characters, with all these people that are coming from all across the country, right? Are there any tips or tricks they're looking at kind of building those relationships up?

Jake Friedman: 11:49

It would be similar to building any relationship really, I think you start with a better base than a lot of fresh relationships that happen almost out of nowhere, where you all have a love for the sport. And to be able to connect over your past in the sport, and talk to these new folks about their experiences in their previous places where they come, from the friends that they had, the teammates that they had, the moments that really made that sport, something special to them— that is a kind of pre-cooked-in way that you can start to build those relationships.

Josh Bailey: 12:26

Thank you for that. As we get ready to kind of land the plane here for today's episode, are there any particular takeaways or any particular kind of final thoughts that you would like to put out there?

Jake Friedman: 12:37

I want to tell people to not be afraid of taking a step that may be scary at the time. Being afraid and doing something scary are two different things. You can feel the fear and still take that step. When I'm talking about that, I mean joining the club, or stopping to playing that sport, because it's affecting you in a way that you feel like you can't manage. Seeking support because you still want to do the sport, but you feel like you need more help to manage those things. Being able to take that extra step and say, look inside and say what do I need right now? What is this doing for me right now? And what is my why?

Josh Bailey: 13:20

All right. Jake, thank you very much for taking the time again today. Really appreciated it it. To all of our

listeners: 13:25

Thank you again for dropping in and checking us out. Keep your eyes peeled for our next episode. Take care of yourselves. And until then I'm Josh and this is Psych Bytes with CCS.