Madden and Trent

Episode 5: Game Day: The Impact Sports have on Mental health.

Introduction:

Madden: Another day is another great day to tune back into T&M’s let’s talk. On today's episode we will
be diving deep into how sports impact our mental health positively and negatively. Sports is a form of
exercise in a more structured and competive formatting, that has been indigenous to certain cultures all
over the world. The significance of sports has greatly impacted society as it is found that youth in sports
are associated with lower rates of anxiety, depression, stress and suicidal behaviors. With this type of
information, we would have convinced you that there could be no possible detriments, but this isn’t the
full case.

Trenton: On today's episode we are excited to announce our first guest; Mason Russell from the PJHL’s
Langley Trappers Jr. A program. Mason currently leads the Trappers in points in just his second year
playing. On today’s episode, of T&M’s let's talk, Mason is here to talk about his insights on mental health
within sports, his own experiences.

Hello Mason and welcome the third episode of T&M’s let’s talk.

 Talk to Mason.
 Ask how his season is so far.
 Ask the biggest challenge so far.
 Biggest successes.
 Most stressful part.

Segment 1: How do sports positively affect mental health.

Madden: The act of physical activity positively affects our physical and mental health. A recent study
conducted at Harvard found that running for 15 minutes a day reduces the risks of major depression by
26%.

 How much physical activity we all get weekly converse.

 How much voluntary physical activity do we get(outside of sports)

Trenton: This is where sports come in, as sports provide a structured form of physical activity, that we
feel psychologically we are forced to go. This allows us to go relieve stress and go numb to the rest of
reality. Overall physical activity in sports is related to many positive mental health effects, varying from
having higher self-esteem to increased memory and higher thinking due to all the endorphins our brain
releases in reaction to the enjoyment of our physical activity. Ask Trent/ Madden If they can actually
realize if they feel better mentally or not after practice/game.

Segment 2: Team Sports and Social connections.

Madden: Whether it be a non-team sport or a team sport, you will always have a social connection with
someone whether it be your teammates, coaches, instructors, managers etc. For me some of my best
friends were made from sports. *Ultimately sports foster a sense of community and belonging within
the families themselves and their children. This sense of belonging helps the children’s mental health.*
However when there is good experiences there will also be bad experiences.

 Tell each other about bad social connections in sports.

Segment 3: Overcoming Challenges through sports.

Madden: Building resilience in sports isn’t just based on physical resilience, but also our ability to build
mental stamina. The idea in which we can build our minds to be stronger, constantly encouraging
ourselves so we can always constantly get better physically. Sports help us overcome mental health
challenges, from the strength of our mental stamina increase to the help of our teammates and coaches.

 Madden tell us about a time when you overcame a mental roadblock within sports.
 Trenton tell us about a time when you faced a mental challenge.
 Mason tell us about a time in when you faced a mental challenge and how you overcame it.

Trenton: Sports doesn’t only teach us how to mentally overcome challenges but also teach us life
lessons that we will constantly use for the rest of our lives.

 List them as a group and how they have shaped us differently.

Madden: Some life lessons include, commitment, self-discipline, learning to work with others,
teamwork, handling fear and failure, resilience, time management, dedication, patience, respect,
responsibility and compassion. All of these make us mentally tougher, and overall more disciplined.

Segment 4: Potential risks.

Madden: We must understand that with all these positive effects for our mental health there is also
risks. With playing sports comes the risk of injury; injury not only poses a risk to our physical being but
also our mental well-being. Athletes who suffer from a severe injury often encounter a range of
emotions varying from frustration, anger, sadness, and anxiety. These emotions have significant effects
on an athlete's mind and wellbeing. There are many psychological effects that come with injury, this
includes depression, anxiety and anger management issues.

 A time when we all encountered a physical injury and how it affected us mentally?

Trenton: Not only injuries cause negative mental health impacts but underperformance, overtraining,
performance expectations are all ways that athletes experience stressors that affect our mental health.

 A time when we underperformed, overtrained or were expected to perform a certain way when
we didn’t. Explain how it affected our mental health and how we responded.

Madden: Not only this but there is also time in which we can develop anxiety in competive natures, from
being constantly yelled at by our coaches or teammates. If this is continuous it will affect our confidence
and we will begin to develop anxiety of playing, as we are scared to make mistakes and don’t want to be
yelled at/embarrassed.

 A time when a coach yelled at us and if we were able to get over it.
Segment 5: Importance of advocacy.

Trenton: The importance of advocating is key to ending the stigma to mental health within the sports
world. Professional athletes have started to advocate around the world with histories most decorated
Olympian: Michael Phelps; he spoke about his struggle with mental health during the pandemic and
broke a lot of stigma surrounding professional athletes and athletes in general. Demar Derozan of the
Chicago Bulls stated on his twitter a powerful statement after saying his depression got the better of
him, “No matter how indestructible we look like we are all human at the end of the day.”

 Importance of advocating to all of us.

Conclusion:

Trenton: Sports open a world of excellence for all of us from improved moods to building families,
however there is still a dark side that isn’t explored due to the stigma surrounding athletes “being
indestructible”.

We encourage all of you to share your own personal experiences to help break the stigma.

Madden: We would like to thank our audience for tuning into another episode of T&M’s let's talk, and
our guest Mason Russell for spending time with us today. Until next time on T&M’s we will be diving
deep into how our stress about the future cause's detriments to our mental health.