COVID-19 has reshaped our world, and right now, many of us are female athletes minus the athlete part. This is the first time we’ll be going back to school without a guaranteed season. We’ve trained for years to compete in our sport, and now we’re being robbed of our time, leaving us overwhelmed with emotion. We are anxious, disappointed and frustrated.
These sentiments among athletes are not unique. Just ask Dr. Kimberly O’Brien, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Clinician and Research Scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital. She works with athletes on their mental health concerns and has seen firsthand the emotional regression in athletes as their athletic experiences have been put on hold. She points out that without sports athletes are struggling with the loss of both “precious in-person time” with teammates and a “physical outlet for emotional and physical energy." This void can exacerbate mental health challenges, like anxiety and depressive symptoms.
How can we address our new reality?
Dr. O’Brien tells her athletes to "Control the controllables" and "Take it one day at a time" Focusing on keeping our minds in the present moment and monitoring our effort and attitude are powerful ways to remain positive. Remember: “Give yourself permission to feel how you feel” she says. It’s okay to feel sad or mad that we can’t play, but we can’t move forward with our emotions if we do not allow ourselves to feel them.
“For a lot of athletes, the possibility of not having a season calls into question their sense of identity. I know a large part of my identity is rooted in the fact that I’m an athlete. I think you really have to dig deep and remember why you play the sport you do and where your drive comes from.”
Most importantly, let’s use this time to better understand ourselves without our sport.
We’re more than just female athletes. We have a rare opportunity to explore parts of ourselves that we haven’t had time to do before. Anne, a collegiate hockey player, is trying to do just that: “For a lot of athletes, the possibility of not having a season calls into question their sense of identity. I know a large part of my identity is rooted in the fact that I’m an athlete. I think you really have to dig deep and remember why you play the sport you do and where your drive comes from.”
Dr. O'Brien echoed Anne’s thoughts by emphasizing that using this time for self-reflection is a perfect example of how to take advantage of this situation by doing something “that we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to do.” Focusing on the unknown only increases unrest, instead Dr. O’Brien says “Look ahead five years from now. What do you want to do? Where do you want to be?”
Taking the time to self-reflect may even be advantageous when we do get back to our sport. She argues “You’ll feel such a sense of gratitude to be playing and it might make you play better, honestly. It might make you play for the pure enjoyment of it and remind yourself ‘Okay, this is why I play my sport. This is why I do this. I don’t have to put so much pressure on myself because this isn’t all that I am.’” Let’s get comfortable being uncomfortable and explore our identities beyond being athletes.
