Sporting Wellness

🌍💚 SportsAid has released the findings of its inaugural mental health and wellbeing survey on World Mental Health Day 🌍💚 Nearly half of the respondents feel anxiety affects their sporting performance with 26% saying it can be too difficult to manage at times, according to the survey. The survey, undertaken in September 2023, was completed by 379 talented young athletes - each of whom are receiving support from SportsAid this year having been nominated to the charity by the national governing bodies of their respective sports. The findings have highlighted the main factors behind this, the different challenges facing female and para athletes, and the appetite for more support and advice. The survey was entirely anonymous and confidential. The full findings can be found further down, via the link, but here’s a few key headlines: 💚 9 out of 10 athletes would find it useful to have access to more mental health resources, tools and sessions with the aim of helping them in their day-to-day lives. 💚 62% of athletes feel they have enough knowledge and support to take care of their mental health but nearly a third say that they don’t with 14% not feeling comfortable asking for help. 💚 Two thirds of female athletes experience day-to-day anxiety, compared to just over half of male athletes, with the main factors being sporting performance, body image and friendships. 💚 Two thirds of athletes feel their sporting performance has been the main cause of anxiety in their day-to-day lives alongside school/exams (53%) and money/cost of living (33%). 💚 23% of athletes who rate their mental health as ‘poor’ say they have no access to mental health services - they are also less likely to ask for help than those with ‘good’ mental health. The respondent group was very diverse. There was a near even gender split (46% male, 54% female) overall. 78% of respondents were able-bodied (297 athletes) with 22% having a disability (82 athletes). 20% of respondents came from ethnically diverse communities. The athletes who completed the survey were spread across 63 different sports – the majority of which are Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. ▶️ sportsaid.org.uk/news-and-in… #SportsAid #SupportTheNext #GreatBritain #Britain #British #Olympics #Paralympics #TeamGB #ParalympicsGB #WorldMentalHealthDay #sport #highperformance #athlete #athletes #charity #fundraising #mentalwellbeing #mentalhealth #mindhealth #learning #education #knowledge #encourage #enable #empower

The fight for better mental health 💜 This #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek we're celebrating some of the charities and groups we've spotlighted in-game over the last year. If you need help, these organisations (along with many others) are there to offer support 🤝