Doing sports is a physical and mental break

Sport participation and exercise practice are considered to be beneficial for mental status, yielding an improved mood and better quality of life. On the other hand, good mental fitness is thought to lead to better physical status and sport performance. The key aim of this narrative review is to provide an unstructured overview on the topic with special considerations on the role of mental and physical health to summarize the evidence on their reciprocal influence. While very few papers describe the role of mental health measures in affecting physical performance, more evidence is available concerning the effect of exercise and sport in improving mental health outcomes. Furthermore, there is a consistent role of depressive and anxiety symptoms in influencing the risk of sport injury in either recreational or elite athletes. Moreover, the importance of investigating mental health issues in elite and retired athletes is highlighted. On the basis of the available literature, several biases were found to affect the provided evidence mainly because of the complexity of a proper study design in this field.

Keywords: mental health, sports participation, injury, depression, anxiety

A Physical & Mental Break

Even if you have not planned on getting a college scholarship before, doing sports is also a physical and mental break from your studies and related anxiety. Sport is always a welcome addition to your activities. For example, you may be majoring in psychology or nursing, yet do well in baseball or soccer. If so, you can join a college athletic division to become eligible for a scholarship. Remember to engage in social work and improve your academic merits as you compete.