HBO’s sports documentary, "Weight in Gold," delves into the hidden mental health challenges of athletes. In this episode, we discuss the impact of youth sports, overuse injuries, and the critical role parents play. Dr. Tim Jordan shares insights on fostering balance and supporting children's mental health, offering a compelling exploration of the unseen struggles in the pursuit of success. Join us as we navigate the intricate terrain of youth sports to empower both athletes and their families. SHOW NOTES: “Weight in Gold,” an HBO sports documentary. It delves into the debilitating depression, anxiety, suicidal ideations, and other mental health crises that can plague these athletes on their quests for gold, regardless of their level of acclaim. Intense training, hours, singular focus to the exclusion of other things like friendships, family time & vacations; fear of taking even 1 day off. I’m aware of the benefits of kids playing youth sports: teamwork, learning a skill, exercise for your body, win & lose, sportsmanship, see body for its function vs just appearance, make friends with similar interest, creates a tribe Overuse injuries have been rising: Sports specialization and not following the youth sport participation recommendations may increase the chance of overuse injuries; Female athletes more frequently specialize in a sport at earlier ages and sustain more injuries than males Whole life structured around their sport; when quit b/c of injury or graduate HS, not know how to structure their days on their own Must grieve this as a loss, a process, take time to journal what they learned about self, gained, life lessons they want to take with them, things they want to leave behind Knew their place by their ranking, their numbers and times, accolades from coaches and parents, now not sure how they are doing, sense of confidence and standing must come from withinDo things for YOUR reasons, what do you want and WHY? Body image: see selves as fat when really muscular; compare their muscular legs to toothpick friends; distorted body image. Stress from parents and coaches and recruiters and college prospects: MS & HS girls want to quit b/c they are burned out but afraid of disappointing parents, coaches, teammates. Value achievement over character; adds pressure, anxiety about measuring up and winning and pleasing adults, depression if fail. What can parents do? Balance: sports with music, arts, jobs, family time, alone down time, time to follow other interests Make sure kids are pursuing sport b/c of their reasons vs pleasing us or not disappointing us, “Why do you love soccer? Painting? Listen to them if express burnout, be heard and understood, let them choose activities and levels Need for breaks, family vacations, normal camps Choose coaches with good intentions Refuse to get caught up in the current rat race of college scholarship or bust, being the best, doing same sport year-round, focus on winning and being on the best club teams Parents need to set the tone, family intentions (TJ & hockey), OK to say no, derive benefits w/o the costs Be aware of your child’s mental health, look past medals to how they are feeling & coping (like grades after divorce) Have safe place/person to talk about their feelings, worries, fears; just talking about it is therapeutic and healing, they are not alone Contact Dr. Jordan: www.drtimjordan.com If you want more information about your child’s emotional life, check out Dr. Jordan’s online course: Parenting girls: The challenges girls face today with their feelings and friends and what they need
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