As therapists, we often recommend physical activity or sports as a healthy outlet for managing anxiety, building confidence, and developing emotional regulation. For many young people, joining a team or finding a sport they enjoy can be grounding and empowering.
But what happens when the very thing we prescribe as a coping skill becomes the main source of stress?
For high school and college athletes, competitive sports often evolve from a passion into a pressure cooker. What may start as a joyful escape can quickly turn into something that fuels performance anxiety, perfectionism, and burnout. The identity of being an “athlete” becomes tied to achievement, approval, and outcome-driven results.
These clients may no longer play for connection or personal growth, but instead for scholarships, rankings, or parental expectations. Without intentional support around mental resiliency, the coping skill of sport turns into a trigger.
Meanwhile, these athletes are often overlooked. They may not present with “at-risk behaviors” because their lives are highly structured—early mornings, full schedules, leadership roles, and external success. From the outside, they appear focused and high-functioning.
Yet, internally many are struggling with intense anxiety, shame after performance “failures,” imposter syndrome, or complete emotional (and physical) depletion. They are internalizers, and their mental health needs are often masked by medals, routines, and discipline.
Over time, we begin to see another troubling trend: the child who once adored their sport becomes the young adult who avoids it entirely. They graduate or age out of their athletic roles without a new coping skill to replace the old one. The sport that once brought them joy now feels like a source of pain, failure, or emptiness. Rather than serving as a lifelong tool for fulfillment and connection, it becomes a chapter they’re eager to close.
With the right mental health support during their athletic years, these same clients could retain their passion in a new form—recreational, social, or personal—long after their competitive careers end.
So what can therapists do?
We can start by naming the duality: it’s possible to love your sport and still feel overwhelmed by it. We can support athletes in developing mental resiliency skills alongside physical conditioning. That includes teaching:
We can also advocate for a culture of recovery—one that values mental rest as much as physical rest. Finally, we can collaborate with parents, coaches, and athletic departments to ensure that the emotional demands placed on athletes are recognized and supported, not ignored or minimized.
Sports can still be a powerful coping tool. But without emotional scaffolding, they can just as easily become the source of stress we were trying to relieve. As counselors, we have a unique opportunity to help athletes stay connected to their sport—not just for performance, but for lifelong purpose and emotional well-being.
