Stress and Anxiety in Sports Essay Example

In order for psychologists to thoroughly understand anxiety and stress within sport it is important for the sources of stress to be identified which can be split into three: organisational, competitive and personal (Sarkar and Fletcher, 2014). Organisational stressors are commonly defined as the “environmental demands (i.e. stimuli) associated primarily and directly with the organization within which an individual is operating” (Fletcher and Mellalieu, 2006), this can include the individuals role within the sport. Competitive stressors are known to be those issues that are specifically linked to athletic success for instance, opponents and social evaluation (Hanton et al., 2005). Personal stressors are those that are associated with nonsporting life events, which can include family issues or work-life balance (Sarkar and Fletcher, 2014). Knowing these sources of stress can allow psychologists to work with the athlete to minimise the effects they have on them and to allow them to perform at an optimum when competing.

It is important to know the consequence of stress as an athlete and coach as you will want to avoid these as much as possible as they can have a negative impact on an individuals performance, mental and physical health (Stevens et al., 2013). A stress overload can have a negative effect on an individual’s mental health as it can lead to increased anxiety, panic attacks and depression (Morris et al., 2010). Indicating that regulation of the levels of stress is important for optimum mental health (Shankar and Park, 2016) as it is important to maintain a good level of mental health in elite athletes to prevent any knock on effects. Stress can also lead to negative effects on the physical health of an individual as high levels of stress can impact the quality and amount of sleep (Fortunato and Harsh, 2006). A negative impact on performance can be linked to increased muscle tension due to excessive stress (Schneider, 1978) and being overanxious before or during athletic performance (Stevens et al., 2013). 

In elite level sport a lot of demands are put on the performer in regards to physical, emotional and cognitive as well as the increasing importance of recovery (Balk et al., 2017). These demands increase the amount of stress placed on the individual which can cause a decrease in their performance. Competition can trigger a stress response, which can be looked at though Evans (1950) general adaptation syndrome (GAS) which is split into three stages: alarm stage, resistance stage and recovery stage (Tanguy et al., 2018). The body’s natural response to stress can have physiological effects such as increased heart rate and excessive sweating, as well as psychological effects such as increased anxiety (Leino, 1989) which can have a negative effect on an individual’s performance.