Athlete Burnout

Seats are filling up, butter soaks the popcorn, and skeleton shaking bass fills the room. The newest action movie featuring this year’s coveted super hero has arrived. Incredible strength, overwhelming speed, and mind bending flexibility, are all physical traits unattainable by the normal population. Viewers are mesmerized by the double life these characters lead. Similarly, miles away, a crowd roars. Not one seat is left unoccupied. Spectators watch their favorite athlete, clothed in his or her university’s colors, exult in triumph. Like the Incredible Hulk, defensive linemen exhibit bone crushing strength. Track athletes can run as if they are Flash. Gymnasts bend in ways only Mr. Fantastic can accomplish. Playing a college sport requires an athlete to be in …show more content…
This phenomenon oftentimes leads to the eventual abandonment of the chosen career path. Lately, burnout has been a term associated with athletes and the pressure surrounding them. Athlete burnout can be defined as a “cognitive-affective syndrome characterized by emotional and physical exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport devaluation” (qtd. in Freese). Athlete burnout is an overall distaste athletes developed towards their chosen sport. Research by J.D. Freese came to a conclusion of possible negative effects burnout can have on athletes lives. Trouble with social relations, a decreased motivation, and an increase in susceptibility to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse. The lacked sense of accomplishment and sport devaluation hurts the student athlete. With factors like scholarships and money, student athletes who are experiencing athlete burnout might feel like they need to continue playing, lengthening the time they maybe experiencing these negative impacts. Student athletes who are experiencing athlete burnout are left vulnerable to mental health