In addition to the medal count, conversations about mental health took center stage during the 2020 Olympics after Simone Biles, the most decorated American gymnast of all time, earned a bronze medal after bowing out of the final by teams and the individual general gymnastics competition. Simone said she needed to focus on her mental well-being Sound Baths.
“I was surprised, but in a positive way,” says Camila Albuquerque De Brito Gomes , MD and psychiatrist at the Rogers clinic in Miami. “You have to be very brave, especially when her coach and her teammates expect her to do the best because she is the best. She is a very big weight.”
Just one day before bowing out of the team final, Biles posted on Instagram that she felt like she “had all the weight of the world” on her shoulders, a feeling that is not unusual for competitive athletes.
“I was a professional volleyball player in college and stress was very real,” says Dr. Albuquerque. “Athletes carry a lot of expectations from other people and themselves, with the mentality of always winning. The goal should be to perform the skills that one has spent countless hours practicing and having fun doing. I told my patients not to “Waste time in the future worrying about an outcome you cannot control.”
5 tips for athletes to control their stress.
Recognize your feelings and emotions. The brain is a part of your body, just like your arms and legs, so you must dedicate time and energy to it to ensure its well-being. If you feel overwhelmed, talk to others and don’t let your symptoms continue to escalate. You should know that when you talk to other people, you are also raising awareness and letting them know that it is okay to talk about these issues.
Have a support system. Make sure you have people you can talk to about it. For athletes participating in high-level competitions, it might be a good idea to consult with a therapist or psychologist.
Recognize the triggers. You should be aware of the circumstances that cause you to feel higher levels of anxiety and work to understand the reasons behind those responses.
Work on coping strategies. There are many ways to reduce stress levels and return to the present moment, especially if you are worried about the outcome of an event. You can try breathing exercises, meditating, practicing mindfulness exercises , and grounding techniques, such as recognizing and naming four colors or four smells.
It’s okay to take a break if you need to attend to your mental health. If you have an infection, you should take care of yourself. Mental health is as important as physical health.
“We learned at a very young age how to talk about a lot of things, but not about mental health,” says Dr. Albuquerque. “We don’t typically teach children to talk about stress and anxiety, even though we all feel it. People mistakenly believe they need to block it out instead of feeling it and taking steps to deal with it,”.