Introduction
Olympics 2024, has begun in Paris and it has been an exciting journey for all the athletes from all over the world but this time the branch of sports psychology has also paved its way through the Olympics, with the addition of sports psychologist Divya Jain, along with her senior psychiatrist, Dr Samir Parikh, as a part of Indian Olympic Association’s medical team. This addition of a post termed as “Mental Wellness Expert” in the Medical Team of PARIS 2024 at Indian Olympic Association, is not just a recognition but it is also a step towards the upliftment of so many individuals who look up to working as a sports psychologist in India in future.
A brief about the experts
Divya Jain, has been a member of Medical Commission of Indian Olympic Association since 2019, and is also the head of Psychological Services in one of the recognized health services: Fortis Health Care, accompanying her Dr. Samir Parikh,Chairperson of Fortis National Mental Health Program has been given the position of Chief Mental Wellness Expert in the Indian Olympic Association. Dr. Parikh has spoken about how mental health plays a key role in the overall fitness of the athletes. He has also addressed that it has been very often that athletes face anxiety before a game and there have been moments where they tend to lose even after full preparation is one of the concerns that these experts will work on.
One must assume that Mental Health of an athlete comes along naturally with the disciplined life they tend to follow but what gets ignored in this process is the setbacks, the challenges, the need for rigorous skill enhancement and the peer pressure that is very prominent in the sports ecosystem. Even the world’s best athletes have faced anxiety at certain level of their career, in order to get an in depth understanding of how this anxiety is followed, whether it is somatic or cognitive anxiety or what are the other factors connected to it, how this can enhance or diminish a player’s performance, all of this research comes under the work of a sports psychologist.
What does a Sports Psychologist do?
A Sports Psychologist’s key role can be to conduct research, educate coaches, trainers, committees involved and to consult individually as well as within groups or teams on the psychological factors involved in their particular sports such as concentration enhancement, effective performance, dealing with competitive environment and effective team work. A Sports Psychologist works as a team with the coach, refining pre-performance routines and also understanding the drives, personality, motivation, traits, abilities , attitude and needs of their athletes. Through the knowledge of these individual characteristics, they can work on the individuals more specifically.
What is the need of A sports psychologist or psychiatrists at Olympics level?
Have you ever felt nervous at the moment when the at the sound of “ on your marks, get set go” , this is similar to performance anxiety, even at the highest level of games such as Olympics it is totally normal for an athlete to feel emotions of goosebumps and nervousness, but how they handle that feeling is where the tables are turned towards their strong mind set. One must win over the mind games before winning against their opponent and that applies in every game, whether it is a game that requires a lot of bodily strength or a game that requires our mind to instil our techniques. In the midst of this competitive environment the major issues that athletes face can be a lack of confidence, fear of failure, perfectionism, setting impossible standards for themselves, having an attitude of winning at all costs, around all these deep rooted cognitive beliefs what gets disrupted is the mental framework of an athlete and they tend to loose on self-care, in order to highlight and consult athletes on how they can deal with such setbacks without exhausting their own mental health a sports psychologist or consulting a psychiatrist at such levels can be very beneficial.
Athletes who have addressed the importance of mental health.
Manu Bhaker
India has been trying it’s best at the Olympics and one of the names that is quite prominent recently is Manu Bhaker’s excellent performance in 10m air pistol event which got India it’s first bronze medal at Olympics 2024.From her first Olympics in Tokyo,2021 where a pistol malfunction led to quite disappointment from her end to her adamant ability to focus on her goal without having the thought of giving up, she has surely learned from previous games and has made India proud with her comeback.During Tokyo Olympics, Manu has highlighted on the aspects of meditation in order to maintain mental stability, she controls her thoughts through diverting it towards listening music, writing and not letting her thoughts win, she has also learned how to not let happiness depend on the outcome of the game.Recently too Manu has highlighted upon how her reading Bhagwat Geeta and maintaining a composure and inclinement of thoughts have helped her to focus on her goal this time,leading her resilient effort to win over the challenges in her mind and thus bagging two bronze for India.
Deepika Kumari
Deepika Kumari , a 30 year old archer and a four time olympian, has also spoken about how pressure in a competition can land athletes into a spiral of negative thoughts, she has also spoken on how one must know and acknowledge their fear, one must have the answer of what if they lose beforehand in order to avoid feelings of hopelessness in times of injury or failure.As an archer in the olympics she has also highlighted on how it is important to recognize one’s negative thoughts by indulging into self-talk as well as by consulting to her coaches and the psychologists in order to address her anxiousness.
Mohammad Shami
One of the spectacular bowlers of Indian Cricket Team, Mohammad Shami, who is also the recipient of the prestigious Arjuna Awards has also talked about how mental pressure can interfere in the physical well-being of an individual and how having a strong support system and the right counsellor is important. Shami’s journey from having felt suicidal to soaring in his cricket career is an inspirational yet a learned experience that it is important for athletes to consult and talk about such issues that occur during an individual’s low phase so that they can fight back and overcome when backed up by the right guidance.
Why is an athlete’s mental health important?
An athlete is not just an asset to the nation, but they are also humans and it is their sole right to seek help at times when the people around them burden them with responsibilities or when they themselves could not meet their own expectations.
There are various techniques such as meditation,yoga,talk therapy,physio-therapy as well as other tools that are offered to athletes in order to understand the spectrum of emotions,challenges,obstacles they tend to feel before,during and after a game,so that they can channelize and control their nervous energy effectively and make their mind a better place for themselves in the midst of the competition by being more optimistic from within and letting positive affirmations win over negative thoughts.
One must understand that it is the body that needs to be trained hard but not the mind, an active individual like an athlete needs to train their mind to adjust,adapt as well as understand their own victories as well as setbacks as a part of their game.
It is through the help of counsellors,psychiatrists,sport psychologists,physiotherapists and a combined support of the team as well as the coach that an athlete can strengthen their physical and mental health.
Reference:
Sports and Exercise Psychology, A Critical Introduction by Aiden P. Moran
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