Anxiety is common in human beings and especially in performance fields like acting, singing, sports, etc. Even though the feeling of anxiety is normal, its excess presence can be harmful in ways we don’t recognize. Moreover, young people are more prone to anxiety because they don’t know how to control their emotions as compared to the older ones who have experience in handling and tackling their extreme emotions like anxiety. The effects of anxiety are many, here are some of its effects on young athletes.
Source: NPR
Contents
1. Affects Performance
Anxiety can affect an athlete’s performance broadly. If a person gets too anxious before a big performance, then it starts to develop a negative mindset. All the wrong, sometimes absurd, things that can happen hits the mind one by one and it leads to overthinking. It makes the person restless, and the person won’t be able to get sound sleep which will lead to underperformance. A young athlete will mistake when the mind is not focused. Meditation is very helpful in bringing that focus and properly channeling the thought process.
2. Self Confidence Decreases
Self-confidence is necessary for everything we do, and anxiety can decrease the level of our self-confidence making us incapable of performing activities we are experienced in. If an athlete ends up losing a game or match because of anxiety once and doesn’t handle it well, it will start to affect their whole mental strength continuously. One can try to excel their skill in whichever game or sport they are into to rebuild self-confidence and keep anxiety away, check out basketball drills for kids to get an idea for basketball.
Source: Verywell Mind
3. Fear of Limelight
Repeated mishandling of anxiety has long term effects and one of those effects is the fear of limelight that develops in a person. When one underperforms frequently owing to anxiety, self-doubt grows and that leads to the growth of fear of performing with or in front of others. For an athlete, fear of limelight is not healthy because public attention is unavoidable in the field of sports. To tackle this, one should focus on their passion for the game while playing and forget about who’s watching. Notice them when they clap for your good performance.
4. Deviation from Passion
When anxiety starts having long term effects on young athletes, they may end up giving up on their dream, even though they possess talent. And that is a major loss. Deviation from passion is common in young athletes who suffer from self-doubt and low self-confidence, which are long term effects of undealt anxiety. Giving up on one’s passion will leave a lifetime feeling of regret. One should try to focus on improving oneself and balancing anxiety on a healthy level, getting help from seniors if necessary.
Source: BMJ Blogs
5. Potential Depression
Depression is very common nowadays and especially amongst young people. When a young mind faces anxiety, fear and failure regularly it is bound to have depression-like symptoms. For this reason, young age is very crucial for an athlete; the good molding of the mind should be done in this age period. Practicing concentration, self-motivation, developing skills are helpful in the long run. Music is one effective method to avoid or cure depression.
All the effects of anxiety are connected to each other in a spiral way, one leading to another and bringing a person to the very bottom. What anxiety can do is vast but not irreversible. Noticing early signs of serious anxiety issues and right application of self-knowledge at right timings can avoid major effects of anxiety in the near future. Young athletes and people, in general, should stay motivated, live their lives to the fullest and deal with anxiety positively.
Source: Verywell Mind
