Sport for Mental Health(Emotional support)

Emotional support

Emotional support is described as ‘the ability to turn to others for comfort and security
during times of stress, leading the person to feel that he or she is cared for by others’
(Rees et al., 2003, p. 137). Participants in our research have often talked about how
emotional support – usually from family and friends and sometimes in the context of
sport and exercise activities – has been important to them. One described the support
he receives from his parents when he competes in races: ‘My dad was there like. My
parents used to go, parents go with me too on all these runs, they go with me and sort
of cheer me on at the end.’ In the words of another:

Family as well, friends, they supported me since I was ill really . . . used to come
round, make sure I was up or I went out with them they asked how I was. You know
just good friends really. . . Yeah. Yeah. Just care, care, care like. Care.

Alongside emotional support being provided by outsiders, we also observed that
emotional support, like esteem and informational support, was at times shared between
members of exercise and sport groups. In this way, participants both received and gave
emotional support to each other through sport or physical activity and, as the following
excerpt suggests, these steps can be taken without the session leaders being involved:
Badminton has been a good place to meet people without necessarily having to sit
and have a full conversation, particularly when you first start the group and are very
nervous. It’s nice that some of us meet afterwards for coffee etc. . . . in the leisure
centre cafe. Again there’s no pressure to stay . . . no one is expected to stay for a
drink, but everyone is welcome to. That is something we do generally without the
coaches being involved, so again it helps us build friendships and a time to chat if
we want to.
We were also aware that quite often, participants would suggest that the sport group
provided something they had not experienced before:
Well I’m sort of supported. I feel supported with other people there yeah. It’s people
that I know mainly, especially the football team, its people that I never knew before
but I got friendly with, made good friends, and we all just participated in sport . . .
This is why I still come to [name of day centre] ’cause of the sports activities and
what have you. I think it’s important to keep it going.
While being difficult to document, time and again we witnessed subtle processes of
mutual interpersonal emotional support taking place within the context of some sport
groups which served to help bind group members together and, we suggest, create a
sense of community. Intrinsic to this sense of community was group members’ willingness
to give and accept emotional support to and from each other. The following excerpt
from our field notes provides an example of this process in action as several group
members respond to photos one participant took of a previous week’s golf session:
As we sat around waiting for the mini bus to be organised Peter said he had brought
his photos. I was thrilled and asked to see them. He had gone to the trouble of
getting a set done for us. The photos were of the group playing on the first week out
on the golf course. I looked at them and wished we could use them. I passed them
on to others who were interested. Jerry looked at them and particularly looked at
photos of himself. He said that he needed to lose some weight. The words were said
without withdrawing or looking overly concerned. Then he said, ‘I need to come
off of medication.’ The others sat around were listening. Peter agreed, he said he
had reduced or come off his medication then he said, ‘I keep some just in case like.’
Andrew had been listening too, he joined in affirming what the others had said, ‘I
keep some just in case too.’ (Kitrina, 16 July)
This account shows the dynamic and complex nature of social support systems
and particularly the delicate and unpredictable nature of emotional support. If one
participant hadn’t been enthusiastic about documenting the activity, the photos would
not have been taken. If he had not wanted to share them with the group, or the group
had been unavailable, they would not have been shared communally. If they had not
have been shared, there would have been no spontaneous opportunity or catalyst for
the group to comment and encourage each other about a concern that was relevant to
them all. We suggest that at times like these, when individuals engage with and support
each other in talking about shared personal issues, a valuable exchange of emotional
support takes place. On this occasion it was made possible through participation in a
sport group.