Mental Toughness and Mental Health in Sports

Mental toughness and mental health are both hot topics in sports. What do they have to do with one another? I think that oftentimes athletes equate mental toughness with a hardness that then carries over into all areas of their lives. There has been an entire culture built around the notion that the only feelings that are accepted as “tough” are those of resiliency and aggressiveness. We see many athletes who translate this to mean that if they have something that is emotionally and mentally unhealed, they have to bury it deep within them and keep it there in order to stay competitive. It can also mean that they ignore stress. These implications have long term effects off the field or court and eventually will surface because overcoming emotional and mental adversity is part of being human.

Bridging the gap between mental toughness and mental health in sports

Perspective is everything so therefore in order to help athletes understand more about themselves, we have to begin with redefining what mental toughness is.

Mental toughness doesn’t mean being emotionless. It’s about having the self-discipline to not let your worries or fears get to you.

Tough doesn’t mean robotic. It means overcoming adversity by facing it head-on. This includes emotions and negative thinking patterns.

Rather than ignoring the issue, confront it conscientiously so that mental toughness and wellness can develop and coexist in the same space. To do this, athletes have to learn to understand emotions (i.e., emotional intelligence) and to develop individualized coping skills.

By widening our definition of mental toughness to include mental training and heightened personal awareness, we begin to open up space for players to address some of today’s most critical issues.

Fear of mistakes is on the rise and it’s plaguing mental toughness and mental health.

I’ve spoken with athletes who say that they are afraid of making mistakes because they feel like they have to be perfect. This is happening at all levels and becoming a widespread fear among players. But, why?

For one, pressure. Athletes feel incredible pressure to exceed and perform as well as develop quicker and at higher levels than ever before.

Players fear making mistakes for a number of reasons:

• They feel like their career and their life goals are on the line each and every day
• They might face ridicule on social media when a video of their mistake is published or called out
• They might be heckled by an entire crowd at the game
• With so many eyes on them, they want people to see perfection
• They’re overly aware of weaknesses

“Now, mistakes can be immediately uploaded, tweeted, placed on Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat, where the individual and team can be ridiculed — all before they return home. The pressure to succeed in this fishbowl, especially for athletes who have not developed effective coping skills, can be overwhelming.”

Lani Lawrence, PsyD, a clinical and sport psychologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and a certified mental performance consultant with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (As quoted in “Can Getting Mentally Tough Up Your Game? In All Sports, the Answer Is Yes”)

There’s a way to be mentally tough and resilient, while also developing mental wellness as a whole.

What can be done to help athletes with mental toughness?

It’s up to coaches and organizations to make resources available to their players. We can’t rely on athletes to develop their mental toughness and wellness when there isn’t a culture that encourages the development of mental health. Secondly, we shouldn’t assume that an athlete will go outside of his or her sports life to seek mental development.  It’s imperative to have resources available.

A coach can teach physical development, but it can be a lot harder to identify and coach mental development because it’s not something that a coach would necessarily physically see. For example, a coach can see a player missing shots or limping, but they can’t necessarily see what’s going on in his or her head. What if the athlete chooses to hide or ignore his or her internal issues? Then what?

The best way to help athletes is to keep an open forum by talking about the issues they face regularly and making sure they know who to go to and that they feel okay doing so.

What can athletes do to develop mental toughness and mental wellness skills?

Even with the right support, mental toughness and mental wellness is ultimately up to the individual. He or she might be in the best environment with the best resources, and the athlete would still have to be the one to take responsibility for his or her personal development.

Athletes are in an advantageous position because they already understand that it’s impossible to control 100% of what happens during competition. This same mentality transfers over to every other area of life. Just like it’s up to the player to decide how to react to the flow of the game, it’s up to them to develop the skills to effectively play through the flow of life.

This isn’t always easy. There are numerous challenges in personal development because we are forced to make tough decisions, to speak our truth, stand behind that truth, admit our faults, and make an effort to change negative habits. Is it possible? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes.

Once an athlete is committed to this improvement, they can try seeking out help from their coaches or look for mental health professionals or coaches to help.

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