Combat sports athletes are known to be some of the hardest-working athletes in the sports realm. Their training regiment is no joke and they have to push their body to the limit in order to bring out their best version on fight night.

However, in the midst of training and trying to balance their personal lives, fighters often tend to look past their mental well-being.

Interestingly, this is not the case with just boxers but a common human trait. With more and more people speaking up about the importance of mental health, in this piece, we will take a deep dive into the same but concerning combat sports.

What is mental health? How to improve it?

While mental health is becoming a commonly discussed topic these days, there are still a lot of people who are not properly aware of it. Mental health includes the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of individuals. Mental health affects how we as individuals think, feel, and act.

It also helps determine how we are able to handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices in our lives. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and teenage through adulthood. While there is no specific cause of bad mental health or mental illnesses, a number of factors can contribute to it like adverse childhood experiences, feelings of loneliness, use of alcohol and drugs, and more.

Someone who is struggling with a mental illness can do the following things in order to get better:

• Consult an expert and get medication if needed.
• Exercise regularly can help boost your mood.
• Eat a healthy diet on a regular basis.
• Try out different things to stay distracted.
• Speak to someone, and share your thoughts and problems.

Why do fighters have mental health issues?

At the end of the day, fighters are also humans and it is no surprise that they also suffer from mental health-related issues. However, unlike regular human beings fighters have a lot more reasons that, contribute to the state of their mental health.

One should keep in mind that most fighters stay away from their families for an extended period of time in order to prepare for fights. This can have a negative impact on the mental health of a fighter. Moreover, their competitive nature can also play a vital role.

Fighters are some of the most competitive beings on the planet and their victory and losses have a severe impact on how they feel. That is why when a fighter is going through a rough patch in his career, he can feel demotivated and low.

The pressure to perform under the bright lights and the fear of embarrassment is also one of the leading factors that affect the mental health of fighters. Apart from this, injuries and staying out of competition is also one such factor.

Fighters who have been vocal about mental health

Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury is arguably one of the most notable fighters who have been open about their mental health struggles. Back in 2017, Fury was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has struggled with depression and anxiety for quite some time now. When not fighting,

Fury often finds himself abusing alcohol and drugs. This is exactly why Fury has decided to stay active and train regularly to avoid falling into heavy addiction again.

Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua is also one such name. Joshua started to gain recognition from a very young age and was billed to become the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time in the years to come. However, this ultimately started to take a toll on him and he was often left buried under the pressure of performing. However, in recent years, Joshua has been quite vocal about how keeping your mental health in check is important.

Paddy Pimblett

Paddy Pimblett, the rising UFC superstar made headlines back in 2022 after speaking about his friend during a post-fight interview. Following his victory over Jordan Leavitt, Pimblett revealed that one of his close friends had died from suicide just hours before the UFC star was supposed to do his weigh-in. Since then, Pimblett has been vocal about his own struggles and has urged everyone especially men to speak up about their problems.

That said, while we have listed three prominent fighting personalities who have been able to speak about the importance of good mental health, there are a lot more.

Conclusion

The intention of this article is to spread awareness about the importance of mental health. While fighters go through mental battles more often than regular people, it is important for everyone to know that they are not alone. Moreover, people should not feel embarrassed to talk about how they feel because most people especially men think they will sound weak if they speak about their struggles.

These days there are a lot of initiatives being taken for people who suffer from mental health problems and anyone going through them has many options to get better. That said, we hope that anyone going through something can find strength and overcome their adversities be it with the help of a professional or a close one.

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