How Does Stress Affect Esport Players and How Do They Cope With It?

Introduction

With the rise and popularity of esports growing each year, the number of platforms streaming esports events and those viewing them are increasing. Between 2018 and 2019, there was a 12.3% increase in the number of esport viewers. It has been predicted that by 2024, there will be a total of 577.2 million casual viewers and esport enthusiasts. So, what does this mean for esport professionals?

Source: Newzoo.com – The platforms streaming esports

This increase in audience size can act as an external stressor, which can put a large amount of pressure on these individuals. An external stressor can be an event or situation that contributes to the experience of stress. For example, feeling pressure because of the presence of an audience, or from attending media interviews. These external stressors can influence internal stressors. Internal stressors are internal factors, such as thoughts about one’s expectations, that can lead to stress. For example, feeling the need to perform at the highest level can cause stress. 

What stressors do competitive esport players face?

There has been evidence that competition causes psychophysical stress and activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). This is key in the body’s response to an immediate threat, which is often called the fight or flight response to stress. For example, if someone pushes you, would you push them back or run away? This is the SNS reacting to a potential threat. The link between competition and stress can harm performance, which highlights the importance of finding ways to cope with stress. In my previous blog, I addressed the mental issues that come with being a professional esports player. This illustrates why esport players need to find ways to cope with these stressors.

Indy “Space” Halpern {Left)

Source: Robert Paul/Blizzard Entertainment

Source: Felipe Labarca/ thegamehaus – Indy “Space” Halpern

There is an interesting video on the CBS News Youtube channel that looks at what it takes to be a professional esport player, and the stressors that come with it. In this clip, Indy Halpern, who plays for the Los Angeles Gladiators (Overwatch team) stated, “When I went into esports, it’s a whole different level of stress… you always have that pressure on your shoulders that you have to perform”. His team at the time used a psychologist to help deal the stress the players experienced. In the same clip, Dr Doug Gardner (Team psychologist) claimed, “You can see the stress in their face and their eyes and so what we are trying to do is to avoid that burnout”. 

What coping strategies are there?

Coping strategies are the thoughts and behaviours used to manage the internal and external demands of stressful situations esport athletes may face. There are a variety of strategies used that include emotion-focused, problem-focused, and avoidance-focused coping strategies. Emotion-focused coping strategies refer to addressing the feelings (e.g., stress or anxiety) brought on by external or internal stressors rather than trying to tackle the stressor head on. For example, taking a break from playing, listening to music, or meditating. Problem-focused coping strategies involve facing the problem to try and solve it, for example communication strategies or positive communication. Avoidance-focused coping is different as it involves disengaging from a stressful situation. For example, not taking part in media interviews, or not playing aggressive to avoid making a mistake. 

A study observed stress coping strategies used by 316 esport athletes ranked in the top 40% of their respective esports (Counterstrike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, League of Legends, Rainbow Six, and Defence of the Ancients 2). What they found was mental toughness was associated with problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. The study concluded that esport athletes would benefit from sport psychology interventions.

Furthermore, esport athletes will tend to use a variety of these coping strategies depending on what type of stressor they experience. A study interviewing seven male Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players revealed that their teams used a number of emotion, problem and approach coping strategies. These included breathing, relaxation, intra-team communication (communication within a group between members) and team camps to avoid stress. These results are in line with how applied practitioners may support players to find strategies to deal with these internal and external stressors that esport players face. This can lead to performance enhancements, as well as less stress on these players. 

Conclusion

With the increasing growth of esports and the viewers attracted to it comes greater external stressors on players. These in turn lead to an increase in internal pressure to always perform well, as pointed out by Indy Halpern. Stress can have a huge impact on esport players' health and performance, which is why it is crucial that they are given the help from psychologists and practitioners to cope with these.

The main coping strategies used by esport players were emotion-focused (breathing and relaxation), problem-focused (team communication after games and positive in-game talk), and approach-focused coping (team camps and allocation of roles) strategies. By having these interventions in place, it can help enhance performance and reduce both external and internal induced stress. 

Article written by Sam Hart