Pandemic Pause on Athletes: Interview with Dr.Garver

As you all know, Eunoia last month had posted an article about Athlete Anxiety. During the process of writing the essay, I came across "Change-Event Steals “Athlete” from “College Athlete”: Perceived Impact and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress," an article written by Dr. Matthew Garver. Dr. Garver is an associate professor and chair of the School of Nutrition, Kinesiology, and Psychological Science at the University of Central Missouri. The article, which researched how COVID connected with feelings of depression, anxiety, frustration among college athletes, resonated with me because of my similar experiences as a high school student. As a competitive swimmer, I related to the pressure and stress of being an athlete during the pandemic. He agreed to talk to speak with us and share his learning about the research.

When explaining his research, he compared the mental state of Student-athletes as similar to injuries. 

Dr. Garver," at injuries instantly steals their ability to compete, and there is often an increase in anxiety and potential loss of identity. In most cases, it is a single individual; however, when you compare this to COVID's impact on athletes, it was widespread where the whole group and teams were impacted" He urges the campus and athletics community to be diligent in monitoring the holistic wellness of college athletes and members of other campus groups.

I was very interested in understanding his point of view on why females had a higher mean depression subscale score than males? 

It is fascinating when you compare the survey and unpack the DASS scale (depression, anxiety, and stress scale). The phrases and terms used in the DASS may be more related to the manner by which females experience or feel emotions. Being more likely to identify with those terms may have skewed the result to have a much more elevated score for females. He stated, "females would be more likely to be able to identify the terms. If we used something like 'Do you often feel like you want to punch a wall?' or 'Do you want to binge on alcohol when upset?' These questions could have resulted in a very different answer due to making it more likely for males to identify these emotions." Obviously, they used the scale for each person. Females are more likely to identify with those terms, which may have resulted in a higher mean and average for females than males.

Building it further on to my experience as a Swimmer during the pandemic, what should an athlete do if they are in a funk? 

Dr. Garver: It is interesting to see how the sport is deeply ingrained in you, and those aspects make up for who you are.  When you are deeply connected to the sport, what do you do when you don't have it, and how do you manage that?  He continues  I cannot get exercise to work for you; I can't help your body if I can't get past your head. We know the sports works, enjoyable stress relief, wholly developing ourselves is critical. 

Final Words

While a pandemic has been brutal for all athletes, we should treat this as a blessing, a reward for surviving a trying time as stadiums fill up with people, as athletes are back on the field. The long abyss of 2020 and its struggles seem like a minor setback into a beautiful outcome.