How are athletes judged? They usually do so based on their win-to-loss record. Sport involves both success and failure, and an athlete’s response to either situation says a lot about them. Furthermore, during difficult times, athletes may recover control over their lives by learning effective coping mechanisms. This entails recognizing the importance of having a support system, which might include friends, family, and even strangers.
A network of individuals who may provide you with emotional or practical help is called a support system. It has been shown that their presence lowers tension and anxiety. Having an authentic support network is significant for everyone, including athletes. Asking for assistance is a sign of strength rather than weakness. Look for non-human resources. Pets and/or plants may provide a lot of comfort. Taking care of a plant or pet may provide one with a feeling of purpose and satisfaction.
Why We Need A Support System
1. Social Support
One of the importance of having a support system is that isolation often exacerbates mental health problems. The brain’s ability to turn against you when you’re most vulnerable is terrifying. It often provides confirmation bias for your worst fears, which may lead to anxiety, sadness, and other problems.
Social support allows you to concentrate on other people and interactions while also helping you to re-establish your connection to the outside world. This may sometimes take the form of having a heart-to-heart conversation with a friend and asking for helpful advice. In other instances, you could be the one offering guidance. Everybody is an authority in one area.
2. Check-Ins Without Prompting
In times of severe mental illness, you can feel reluctant to ask for assistance from others. You could start declining more and more invitations to go on dates and social gatherings. Individuals who show you consideration for your time and personal space will back off and let you recover on your own.
This is a good strategy, but the people closest to you must draw the line. You may not even be aware of how aloof you’ve become until someone asks, “Are you okay?” This might be the motivation you need to reevaluate and pick up where you left off with your healing journey.
3. Reduces Stress
One of the benefits of a support system is that it helps to reduce our stress. Our lives are healthier when we experience less stress and worry. Even though stress is inevitable, how you respond to it may have a significant impact on your mental well-being.
Having a stress release mechanism, like talking things out with someone, may help you not only feel better but also get over the incident more quickly. This is when having a strong support network comes in handy.
4. Maintains Your Motivation
Those who are invested in your success, whether directly or indirectly, have an incentive to keep you motivated. This also applies to athletes. Individuals who take pride in their accomplishments put a lot of effort into staying on course. These folks help you get closer to your objectives.
Having a reliable support network is crucial for everyone, including athletes. Asking for assistance is a sign of strength, not weakness. Athletes’ fulfillment and motivation are likely to suffer if their basic need for connection is not satisfied, which might have a detrimental effect on their performance.
5. Positive Influence
One importance of having a support system is that it brings positive influence. Those spontaneous check-ins often serve as motivation to adopt better habits. Your partner may urge you to eat something healthy when they get home from work. It can be suggested by a buddy to go to the gym with him. Your mother may stop by and begin tidying up and opening the blinds.
There will be days when these activities become too much to bear. You could even experience anger, pressure, and frustration. But they are also often lifesavers, offering buoyancy when despair would otherwise drag you to the depths. You will be more appreciative of these times the farther along you are in your recovery.
6. Raises The Oxytocin Level
Research indicates that the neuropeptide oxytocin acts as a mediator between social support and health. Increased prosocial conduct, reduced loneliness, improved emotion awareness, stress regulation, and increased trust are all facilitated by oxytocin.
The amygdala and hypothalamus’ emotional activities are modulated by oxytocin. Oxytocin promotes the expression of prosocial conduct, sociality, and stress management on a behavioral level.
7. Healthy Distractions
Some individuals think that keeping their privacy is essential. You may want the advantages of having a social support network, but be concerned about having to reveal your problems to get it. It’s true that giving a detailed explanation of what’s occurred or why isn’t always helpful to you or your loved ones. To be honest, you may not even know the answer to this.
However, having a support group offers a constructive diversion. Finding a balance between diversions that amuse you and those that make you hesitate to act is crucial. Drowsiness caused by alcohol and illicit narcotics are examples of unhealthy diversions. Going for a walk with your friends or taking a yoga class to learn how to meditate are examples of healthy diversions.
8. Accountability
Being accountable is one of the benefits of a support system. They will also provide you with comments that will hold you responsible if you have a strong support network. When we surround ourselves with sound individuals who care about our welfare, they will be obligated to correct us when we make mistakes and provide insightful criticism so that we may grow and change.
You run the danger of being surrounded by individuals who are more concerned with your comfort or happiness when you can’t trust your support network. If not, you run the danger of being surrounded by others who are less interested in you and more focused on themselves.
Either way, this deceit about you will keep you from growing personally and deprive you of the knowledge you need to more effectively accomplish your goals. It is one of the key importance of having a support system.
9. Obtaining Resources
When it comes to obtaining resources, the individuals in your support network may also assist you. Your support network may provide you with resources, including knowledge, expertise, money, contacts, and other assets to aid you in achieving your objectives.
If you are confident in your support network, you are aware that there is a trustworthy group of individuals you can turn to for advice or help to stay out of trouble. A lack of confidence in your support network might lead to uncertainty about whether you’ll have what you need when you need it, which can impede your capacity to succeed and advance.
How To Create A Strong Support System
A network of people who may provide you with sentimental or practical assistance is called a support system. The importance of having a support system is that your general health will be improved by these networks. It has been shown that their presence lessens anxiety and tension. When you have a support system, you know that you can turn to them when things get tough.
Even athletes need a support network. Some people may believe that taking care of themselves is easy and that their health is their only concern. There is no way that this is not the case. Being independent is great, but having a support network is also essential to preserving your physical and emotional well-being. But you need the proper people to support you.
Coaches, parents, friends, and other professionals often support athletes. Even so, an athlete may not get all the kinds of assistance they need. People sometimes need somebody to laugh with them, someone who can relate to their experiences, or somebody to serve as a motivator.
One individual can satisfy many wants for you, yet sometimes, even with a wide support network, requirements go unfulfilled. Besides, each person has needs that are exclusive to them. It’s critical to recognize the many kinds of support you need and then assess if you have the people in your life to meet each one. You may ask those closest to you for more forms of support, or you can look for others to cover the gaps.
FAQ
Q: What are the benefits of having a support network?
A: The greatest advantages include longer, healthier lives, improved coping mechanisms, and increased levels of well-being. It has also been shown that having a support network lowers stress, anxiety, and depression. We need a support system to be there for us in times of need if we are to flourish.
Q: Can one person serve as a support system?
A: Keep in mind that every person will have a unique support network. They might consist of one to ten individuals and be varied individuals from various aspects of your life, and building them takes time.
Q: Why is support required?
A: You may feel more secure and comforted by this aspect of social assistance. Additionally, you may get emotional support from supportive connections when you’re feeling down or stressed. Your aspirations, dreams, and anxieties will be heard by friends and family, who will also help you feel seen and understood.
