2024 Mental Health Essay Contest Awardee: Silver

Change Our Approach: How Sports Can Play a Role in Mental Health

Anna, New York

The guy that sat behind me in science last year always asked why he smelt a strong alcohol smell. Everyone else nodded in agreement while I secretly held my spray bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol under the table.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on many people’s mental health, and I was no exception. Prior to the pandemic, I wasn’t even remotely scared of germs. I was the type of person to complain about having to change out of the clothes I wore on the subway into “home clothes.” But when the lockdown started, everyone was encouraged to sanitize groceries, wash hands more, wear masks, and avoid touching communal things, such as door knobs. I took these suggestions very seriously and sanitized everything I used outside and at school, took multiple showers a day, washed and sanitized my hands after touching almost anything. My parents began to realize that I had spiraled into an obsession with being clean. It was extremely difficult for me to participate in regular activities without using an excessive amount of alcohol.

Freshman year of high school was a big change for me. My class sizes increased by 3x and there were 800 kids in my grade. Apart from my close friends, everyone just assumed that I was just an extreme germaphobe, even my teachers. I was sanitizing my hands, my desk and chair, and refusing to touch door knobs. Some of my teachers and classmates recommended that I talk with my guidance counselor or the school therapist, both of which were very easy to access.

I know a lot of people assume that therapy can “fix” any mental health crisis, but I disagree. While therapy is a great resource that everyone should have free access to, I think that it depends on the situation. I had a therapist for a while in middle school, where I was diagnosed with OCD and prescribed medication and therapy. This should have been where my issues ended, but I was reluctant to take medication and my therapist didn’t really offer other non-medication solutions. My prescribed medication had many side effects, such as depressive thoughts, nausea, and fatigue. I didn’t want to have those side effects on top of school, extracurriculars, and my home duties. We decided to stop going there after seeing how ineffective it was for me.

I had also already seen my guidance counselor about my OCD before. She also didn’t offer any solutions other than taking medication, which I already knew I didn’t want to do. Many other guidance counselors in my school have also suggested taking medication to my friends when they spoke to them about it, which they were already doing. While at my school, guidance counselors and therapists are very easy to access and free, I think that they don't offer solutions to everyone.

OCD is one of those heavily stereotyped and misunderstood disorders. Everyone expects me to be a neat freak, always arranging things, or touching the door handle three times. In reality, I am super messy; my bag has papers strewn in, my desk is a crazy mess, and my handwriting is terrifying. I remember my table partner being absolutely shocked that my bag was so messy because he had heard that I had OCD. Despite health class being mandatory in essentially all high schools, I feel that the curriculum isn’t strong enough. In my school, we focused more on body and reproductive health, but not as much on mental health. I think that we should allocate more time to talking about mental health and how different disorders can present themselves, since nearly 15% of adolescents face mental health issues. In retrospect, it makes sense why my school cares more about body reproductive health. I go to a big specialized STEM school and the majority of the student body is Asian; many students don’t place any importance on mental health, but rather on STEM, grades, and extracurriculars. All of my friends have this expectation placed on them by their parents to get into Ivies, get great grades, and only do clubs that will elevate their college applications. If we start teaching better mental health education now, we can improve the lives of the current and following generations to come.

I wasn’t really the athletic type; I did some ice skating and soccer but that was all before the pandemic. But in the fall of sophomore year of high school, I joined Cross Country and continued to do Track in the winter and spring. Running had become a transcendent experience for me. I realized that I had really missed the support and community from my teammates, the physical challenge, and mental determination that sports took. Running helped me stop easily giving up and push past my mental fortitude limits. The determination that I learned from my runs gave me the strength to reject my thoughts about what was ‘clean’ and what was ‘dirty.’ Since joining, I have reduced my showers, used way less alcohol, and participated in many social activities that I never would’ve had the strength to get through. While these seem like small achievements, I know that I have made a big step and will continue to see huge improvements.

While I don’t disagree that therapy and guidance counselors are great with helping to destigmatize and treat mental health disorders, I think that other solutions need to be more accessible and available. Despite being at a STEM school, our sports teams also excel. Just to give an example, we’ve won first in Cities for Cross Country for many years, and four other teams also won first in PSAL (Public School Athletic League) this past season. This creates a lot of pressure for coaches and teammates to continue winning and train harder. This competitive spirit can be seen as encouragement, but also be extremely nerve wracking. Therefore, I propose that my school allow for there to be more leisure clubs for people to participate in sports. While we already have a casual running club, many other sports, such as swimming and volleyball, don’t. We have a pool, but it’s only for the swim team (who have won in PSAL for many years), so they take it very seriously. It’s very hard for students who want to exercise without the intense pressure or commitment that a regular team has. Considering the great effects that exercise can have on mental health, I think more exercise clubs need to be available, especially in such a competitive STEM school. I will continue to advocate for sports to be more accessible.

Just having therapists and guidance counselors on stand-by isn’t enough to improve mental health issues. Only when we can come together and work on improving mental health education and sports availability, then can we truly improve mental health treatment in schools.

NIH recognizes these talented essay winners for their thoughtfulness and creativity in addressing youth mental health. These essays are written in the students' own words, are unedited, and do not necessarily represent the views of NIH, HHS, or the federal government.

Page published May 31, 2024