COPY AND PASTE THE LINK TO VIEW DATA FROM THE SURVEY
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1beXLKJPxsV3i6VEL_51jqzJdEtyd5J1-w-LMgjHMazo/edit?usp=sharing
A quick disclaimer before jumping into my project, I couldn't make a video for my project
because I ran out of storage on my phone, but the text below is everything I would've said
in my video. Please enjoy.
Hi, my name is Krysti Alejandro and every day is a challenge for me. I strive to be perfect, I want everything to go as planned, and when it doesn’t I completely crack under the pressure. The act of being perfect has spilled over into every aspect of my life, my soccer career, my work life, my love life, everything, so much so that I feel like I can’t breathe. This feeling has only gotten worse as I have gotten older…maybe because I feel like I’m running out of time or the fact that I am so used to moving at a million miles a minute that when there’s a slow pace in my life I feel as though something is wrong. I ruin everything good in my life, whether it was on the field or with the guy I’ve been talking to for 5 months. I just can’t seem to let things happen the way they should. I want to micromanage, I need to be in charge, if I feel like I have no grasp on anything I start to drown (and the irony to that is that I know how to swim). But this is what mental health struggles look like in me, I need to know the answer even if there’s no answer to know. And that’s why I love math. In math, there’s only ever one right answer, it makes things so easy and simple and helps me be able to catch my breath. So when things start to not make sense for me, I go back to math.
So let’s chat numbers. I did a survey on my social media to see if anyone felt the way I did, but I catered to my athletic side. This was because I was known for having “outbursts” on the field. I would stomp my feet, pull my jersey out of frustration, and sometimes it would become so overwhelming I would break down completely. I have been kicked out of practices and games, suspended for multiple games in my career, I have had my dreams ripped from my hands, and yet I never wanted to quit until last fall. The first question I asked was ‘has your sport ever caused you to feel sad or depressed?” 77% percent of the people who participated said that at one point or another their sport has caused them to feel down on themselves. According to one article, I read it stated, “33% of all college students experience significant symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions. Among that group, 30% seek help. But of college athletes with mental health conditions, only 10% do.” Which led me to another question I asked, ‘Do you have outlets to talk about your mental health?’ in which 80% of the people who responded yes they do have outlets but when I asked my follow up question, ‘Do you find it hard to talk about your mental health struggles?’ which almost everyone who answered that they do have people to talk about their struggles with choosing not to because they don’t want to feel like a burden. "Mental illness is associated with weakness." A ted talker said during her speech, and I think that’s why people don’t say anything about how they feel, they don’t want to be seen as weak. Showing your feelings and if they aren’t happy feelings makes people feel weak and powerless. And those who don’t care about showing weakness and seek help from coaches or teammates get told to ‘toughen up,’ and then get brushed aside.
So after this experience, I can say I learned a lot about the athletes I follow on Instagram and learned more about myself. I sometimes feel alone cause I never met anyone like me, and it makes making relationships with people extremely hard, plus the fact that I wake up every day in a state of panic and can never know calmness. But seeing some people feel how I feel but feel that they can’t express themselves as much as I did, makes me sad for them but gives me a sense of comfort that I’m not alone. I hope others can feel less alone and break the stigma of mental health awareness, student-athletes need help, before there are none left to play.
Works Cited
“Athletes and Mental Health: The Hidden Opponent | Victoria Garrick | TEDxUSC.” YouTube, 2 June 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdk7pLpbIls. Accessed 27 April 2022.
Kuik, Robin, and Suzanne Potts. “Mental Health and Athletes.” Athletes for Hope, https://www.athletesforhope.org/2019/05/mental-health-and-athletes/. Accessed 27
April 2022.
No comments:
Post a Comment