Sports and Mental Health

According to the CDC,  the common problems for American teens are mostly: depression, stress, anxiety and behavior. These issues are a hard thing to struggle with especially during school. But a lot of students have found a way to cope with issues through sports.

“Running makes me relieve stress,” said junior Taylor Darnell. “Life without it is boring and makes me lazy.” 

“Football is somewhere I can go and not worry about anything else,” said senior Alex Zehner.

The teens interviewed for this article have different ages and play different sports. But they could all agree that sports get them motivated to reach their goals and stay focused on what is important.

 “I want to do good and get better, improve in volleyball, and be the best I can be!” said sophomore Shelby Olivarez. 

School has a lot of pressure to get good grades and be on top of your work. This can cause a lot of stress and anxiety for students. To be in school from eight in the morning till three, play sports after till six or seven, and then do the rest of their homework. This can cause depression and a daily routine that becomes boring after a few times. Sports make that daily routine a little bit more fun.

“I like playing so I give it a 8/10, just because I am not fast enough and big enough,” said senior Alex Zehner.

Other than getting out of the daily routine, sports is also for reaching goals and getting something out of it. High school sports are very competitive.

For teenagers sports mean relief from a difficult school day and a distraction from being alone. It keeps them motivated to push themselves and be the best they can be. 

“My motivation is winning, because I don’t take L’s,” said junior Taylor Darnell