Sydney Watson
November 8, 2024
Student Athlete Isabella Brown, playing for Carver Girls Basketball team before experiencing her ConcussionPicture from: Isabella Brown
Some High School student athletes at Carver E&S are experiencing drastic changes in their everyday mental health and education. One common factor is concussions.
Concussions are a mild traumatic brain injury that affects brain function. Concussions have caused many student-athletes to experience complications in school. In high schools, 8.9% of students experience concussions. Student-athletes become very discouraged while waiting to recover. Recovery can take from as little as a few hours to a few months. Morgan Loper, A cheerleader from Carver E&S wasn't able to participate in her team's practices after suffering from her concussion.
“You can't do anything,” said Loper. “So all you doing is, sitting and seeing everybody, you know, have fun and, do the stunts and stuff, but you just sitting there, you can't do nothing”
Even though the percentage is very low, the symptoms they experience can be very severe. Symptoms could include headaches, confusions, lack of coordination, etc. Even though these are the most moderate symptoms, everyone who experiences it has different symptoms. A Carver E&S Track and Girls Basketball Player, Isabella Brown experienced not only physical symptoms but mental symptoms which affected her when attempting to return to sports.
“It was dizziness,” said Brown. “I had a whole lot of depression. When I had it, I couldn't concentrate. The lights bothered me. I couldn't really see well, I couldn't play any sports.”
Unlike most injuries to the body, brain injuries are the hardest to “treat”. There's no specific treatment or medicine that could prevent them. People who experience concussions should be even more cautious when recovering and to be aware of certain signs that their body may send them to prevent further damage to the brain. Scott Pitzner, A athletic director at Carver E&S wants students to understand the difference between a regular injury and a brain injury.
“Getting people to understand that if you break your arm, we put it in a cast,” said Pitzner. “When you get a concussion, you can't put it in a cast, and it's not a visual injury.”
When people think of concussions, the first thing they think of are physical injuries that may occur to the brain. But one of the most common symptoms for people who experience a concussion is a decline in their mental health. New Studies show that 1 in 5 individuals experience mental health symptoms for a minimum of 6 months after the injury. Donna Elliot, a Registered Nurse at Carver E&S, feels a good way to prevent further problems with their mental health should people consider getting therapy after experiencing a concussion.
“We don’t really focus on the mental health aspect of it and I think that some type of mental health therapy is warranted,” said Elliot.
Pamphlet cart In front of Carver E&S Counseling Suite used as a resource for student for mental health, college and other difficulty students may have.
A problem for student-athletes who experience concussions is a dramatic drop in grades. The National Institutes of Health stated that 30.7% - 41.1% of student-athletes who self had “A” grades before concussions experienced a decrease in grades after getting one. Tyrone Neal, A Counselor at Carver E&S wants students to know that their schools have resources to prevent this from happening and that support them in this process.
“Now, sometimes these things are temporary,” said Neal. Sometimes they are longer lasting, but the goal is to know that the school does have support where we work together with the district.”
Student-athletes who have experienced concussions also have a hard decision to make when recovering. There are many things to think about when deciding whether they wanna continue their sport, possibly risking their brain health. The University of Oxford study shows that people who continue to get concussions over time experience significantly worse cognitive functions but they also get them easier after every time. Pitzner wants students to understand doing what would be best for them in the future and not depend on sports but also on their academics.
“You have to figure out what's best for you,” said Pitzner. “Your academic career is what's really gonna carry you, you know, because all it takes is blown out of knee, and then the athletic career is over.”
In order to have the proper recovery when experiencing a concussion, the main goal is to get the best recovery possible in order to be back to your original normal self. Pitzner, wants students to understand that doctors really can't do anything when experiencing a concussion but the main part of recovery is yourself and making sure to take care of yourself and rest.
“I think a lot of people think I have a concussion,” said Pitzner. I'm going to go to the doctor, there’s nothing that can really be done. It’s really just resting to recover faster.”
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