Participating in Sports Can Greatly Increase Mental Well-Being

Question

Sports are a great way for people to release stress and greatly benefit from increased social skills. It gives participants an opportunity to connect with one another and create lasting friendships through a shared passion or activity.

Comments

This claim tends to pyschologially proven as a way to greatly increase mental well-being. While sports have been commonly seen through the lens of physicality and performance, the benefits go further than the body. There are many pyschological benefits related to sports and building mental strength and emotional well being. Some of these benefits include stress reduction and anxiety relief, boosts in self esteem and confidence, enhancing focus and mental clarity, building emotional resilience, even building social connections and emotional support.

https://momentsinwords.com/the-psychological-benefits-of-sports-building-mental-strength-and-emotional-well-being/

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I agree with this, physical activity helps reduce tension and improve mood, making it an effective way to manage stress. Additionally, playing sports encourages teamwork, communication, and cooperation, which are essential social skills. Whether in a team setting or casual games, sports bring people together and create a sense of community.

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As an athlete, I can agree to a certain extent, playing sports releases stress and is beneficial for mental health. I love going to the fields and playing soccer with a few of my friends after a long day of school work because it makes me feel better. However, I believe that participating in competitive team sports whether it's in high school, club, or even at the college and professional level, does the opposite. This is because of the constant pressure that the coach put on the players to be perfect in every aspect of the sport and the unrealistic expectation win every game. For some people, this pressure is what motivates them to do better. Except for most other people, these expectations and constant pressure add stress and in manny cases may even be the cause of some mental health issues.

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The claim that sports are a great way for people to release stress is true. CDC’s article about health benefits of physical activity for adults mentions sport causing improved sleep, reduces feelings of anxiety and reduces blood pressure. The article from seattle anxiety website talks about positive and negative aspects of sport on mental health. Self esteem boost being one of the most notable effects is being followed by stress reduction through release of endorphins which leads to reduced depression. The next effect is social interaction through team sports offering the establishment of strong connections which act as protective factors against loneliness. All those facts support the main claim making is correct!

https://seattleanxiety.com/psychiatrist/2023/9/15/exploring-the-psychological-impacts-of-participating-in-sports

https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/health-benefits/adults.html

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I love how this article goes into so much detail about the benefits and the importance of sports and physical activities. Clearly the people who created this article are very well informed and put a lot of info into the research I couldn't find a better source to back your claim.

Answer 1

BMC, the website that is cited for the source of this claim is specifically a health and medicine journal. This work is peer reviewed and contains thorough sources for this claim that sports can greatly benefit mental health. Due to the reliability of this source, this claim can be considered true

Answer 2

Participating in sports can definitely increase mental well being and reduce stress. I did some research and even 5000 steps a day can reduce symptoms of depression. It also noted that team sports may be better for mental health than solo sports because it gives a sense of belonging and partnership. This systematic review analyzed 29 studies from people 18-84 and found that it does increase mental well being. https://www.health.com/step-count-reduce-depression-study-8769848?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Answer 3

Participation in sports can have amazing positive benefits on one's mental health. An article by Saybrook University goes into great detail about these mental health benefits claiming that one can see positive results in mental health such as mood improvement, stress reduction, better self esteem, and more mental toughness.

This article also talks about how it can overall be a positive thing to get your child into a sport as a kid so that they can grow up with these positives in their lives. They claim that "playing team sports can improve children's mental health." They show that from a research study, the results show that children who did grow up playing team sports see benefits such as 10% lower anxious/depressed scores, 19% lower withdrawn scores, 17% lower social problems scores, 17% lower thought problems scores, 12% lower attention problems scores.

https://www.saybrook.edu/unbound/mental-health-benefits-playing-sports/

Studies show that exercise in general results in improved mental health which can also be a reason sports improve mental well-being. "People who exercise regularly have better mental health and emotional well-being, and lower rates of mental illness."

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/exercise-and-mental-health

Answer 4

This study found that mental heath can be improved by doing physical activity. The study had 29 people all work out and find if their mental health increased. Multiple different sources have all backed up the fact that playing sports whether individual or team based can have great effects on ones mental health. Sports help people by distracting their minds from any stress that might be in their mind by engaging in an activity.

Answer 5

This claim is true, there is enough evidence to support that participating in sports can greatly increase mental well-being. This does depend on factors of type of sport, how often they participate, and level of competition involved, but this claim holds generally true.

In a systematic review analyzing 29 studies of adults, they found that sports participation was associated with improved psychosocial well-being, reduced mental illness, and enhanced social benefits. They also found that these effects were greater in team sports than in individual sports, due to social interaction and peer bonding. Also, stronger results were found in participants who had more frequent participation. 

One consideration of this fact is when it gets to the higher professional level, studies found that elite athletes experience higher levels of psychosocial distress. However, this claim hold true!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10286465/ 

Answer 6

Participating in sports can increase mental well-being. According to The National Institute of Health engaging in sports and exercise is beneficial for mental status, improved mood, and quality of life. The study shows that this improved mental well-being is from increased self-esteem for females within team sports, and males in individual sports. Additionally, it found that sports participation in high school influences mental status in adulthood. Overall physical activity and sports engagement are beneficial for well-being and mental health. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8656946/#:~:text=Sport%20participation%20and%20exercise%20practice,physical%20status%20and%20sport%20performance.

For further clarification, the American Psychiatric Association states "Exercise has consistently been shown to effectively reduce symptoms of depression and maintain well-being both as a primary treatment and in conjunction with medication or therapy." This shows that your claim is accurate, and backed by many studies both controlled and poled. 

https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/news-releases/americans-psychiatrists-agree-sports-can-be-good-f

Answer 7

 According to this article, playing sports releases endorphins which are a key part of happiness which is why sports are so desired to be played. Also, according to the article playing sports is a key part of mental health and athletes are usually much happier compared to the average person. The headline backs up the article due to a lot of primary sources and studies from people directly and is very open about the scientific processes they used to get those results. 

Answer 8

I agree with this claim. There are so many resources to back this claim up. After doing my own research, I found a great article that provides a lot of information by WebMD. By participating in sports, it will help with stress levels and overall make you happier. When a person exercises, they release endorphins, which are chemicals in your brain the help with pain and stress. You are also more likely to be less depressed if you join a team sport instead of doing a individual sport. This is due to the boosts in morale, uplifting each other, and the connections you gain with your teammates. In an article by Saybrook University, it says "Working to achieve a shared goal combined with physical activity instills at an early age the values of teamwork, camaraderie, and fitness." Overall, playing sports can do great things for your well-being. 

Links:

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/benefits-of-sports-for-mental-health

https://www.saybrook.edu/unbound/mental-health-benefits-playing-sports/

Answer 9

I agree with this post and fact check it as 100 percent true. I play sports and it tremendously helped my mental. The article you provided is very strong and gives us all the information needed. I also found an article that backs this up https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/benefits-of-sports-for-mental-health. But great job and couldn't agree more

Answer 10

https://www.simoneskids.org/the-mental-health-benefits-of-extracurricular-sports-for-kids/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA5Ka9BhB5EiwA1ZVtvMK4nESDuTlJaJh41Fm1fwKdv_LSJh5-qyzKAr5AT-OdtYzRjAkhFRoCxqMQAvD_BwE

https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/articles/the-importance-of-mental-health-in-sports

I read 2 other articles that help your point and I agree that being engaged in an activity is a good way to improve one's mental health. It gives you an outlet to express yourself and can help build community and also help you find yourself.