“It’s all in your head” isn’t helpful advice. It’s dismissive.
It takes a real struggle and turns it into a personal failure: if nothing’s physically wrong, why can’t you just get over it?
On this episode of The Worst Advice I Ever Got, brought to you by Smith + Howard, Sean and JB are joined by sports psychiatrist Dr. Jimmy Moley to unpack why that phrase can do more harm than people realize, especially for athletes who are already under pressure to look tough, stay focused and keep performing.
Jimmy explains how athletes can internalize that message, blame themselves and start believing that asking for help means they’re weak or not cut out for the sport. The conversation also gets into the other side of the equation: the mental tools athletes are told to ignore can be the same ones that improve confidence, focus and performance.
They also talk about athlete identity, Burnout, overtraining, youth sports, early specialization and why parents should probably be just as loud with their support after the strikeout as they are after the home run.
Plus, Sean and JB make enough old baseball references to guarantee at least one dad feels extremely seen.
