Introduction
The Athlete’s Triad is a syndrome of three interrelated components, specifically nutrition, bone health, and menstrual function. In addition, each pillar can have irreversible consequences, and all can progress in degree of severity. These problems often contribute to athletic injuries and general health issues. In this way, the impact of low energy availability as a significant cause of Female Athlete Triad development should be explored.
The Effects of “Low Energy Availability” on the Development of the Female Athlete Triad
Most of the Western world faces excessive energy intake and inactivity, leading to obesity and its associated health risks. On the other side of the spectrum, there is a small but significant group of people who are not deficient in physical activity but are not getting enough energy either. This is often due to the pursuit of high athletic performance. Athletes are unique in their high nutritional requirements that support their sports results, prevent injury, and, most significantly, their overall health and well-being (Loveless, 2017). For this reason, it is essential that their diet matches their training load and also their daily life.
Low energy availability with or without an eating disorder may be due to decreased energy consumption with food or expanded energy expenditure during exercise. Therefore, when energy availability is low, it reduces the amount of energy available for body function. Some athletes may follow restrictive diets or use pills or laxatives (Daily and Stumbo, 2018). Others may be diagnosed with an eating disorder, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or other specific or unspecified eating or nutrition behaviors.
With the growth of female participation in sports, the incidence of the triad of disorders characteristic of female athletes has also increased. Although most athletes do not meet the clinical criteria for a diagnosis of an eating illness such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, many demonstrate impaired eating habits, such as starvation, and avoid certain foods (Maya and Misra, 2022). By restricting diet, the athlete can exacerbate the problem of low energy availability.
Due to extreme exercise or dietary limitations, deficient caloric input leaves too little power for the body to achieve standard operations, such as holding a regular menstrual process or healthy bone viscosity. One of the earliest and most interesting observations of menstrual dysfunction in athletes was published by R. Frisch and J. McArthur in 1974. They argued that the onset of first menstruation was only possible when a “critical threshold” of fat tissue equal to 17% of total body weight was reached and when fat tissue was decreased by 22% of total body weight (Maya and Misra, 2022). According to the theory of R. Frisch and J. McArthur, hypothalamic sensitivity to gender steroids is impaired when a critical adipose tissue content is reached. Based on these observations, low body weight is considered the most convincing explanation for reproductive dysfunction in female athletes.
Conclusion
Hence, the female athletic triad is a particular case of a deficit regime in people with high physical activity. A widespread non-obvious problem is the energy balance problem, which affects the development of the other components of the triad. Triad is observed in women with exercise levels that exceed available energy levels. Treatment of the Female Athlete’s Triad begins with enhancing energy supply by increasing food intake or reducing energy expenditure. Women with an eating disorder or eating pattern need a consultation with a nutritionist.
Reference List
Daily, J. P. and Stumbo, J. R. (2018) “Female athlete triad”, Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice, 45(4), 615-624.
Gross, C., & Joy, E. (2020) “Female athlete triad”, Current Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Reports, 8(3), 199-206.
Loveless, M. B. (2017) “Female athlete triad”, Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 29(5), 301-305.
Maya, J. and Misra, M. (2022) “The female athlete triad: review of current literature”, Current Opinion in Endocrinology & Diabetes and Obesity, 29(1), 44-51.
Depression And Anxiety: Mary’s Case
Precipitants
Mary’s husband’s death precipitated her depression and anxiety diagnosis. She feels lonely and miserable as she struggles with her daily endeavors with limited emotional support. Mary’s feeling of loneliness emanates from her thoughts regarding her purpose in life. Her husband and children were her motivation in life, and she has since lost due to death and children moving out to start families. The lonely environment aggravates her depressive state as she sees no point in caring for the house since she is the only one who resides there. Mary views emotions as a hindrance to her managerial work brought about by her husband’s reminiscence. The store employees believe that she handled the death well as she did not show any emotional effect while on duty. She concealed her emotions from people to show strength as staff deemed her emotionally tough. However, the show she put up led her to depression since she had no one to talk to regarding her situation. Mary had distanced herself from her couple of friends as she did not pick up calls or respond to their game invitations. She deemed herself unworthy of going out to the parties as she would be the odd one out. After pushing everyone away, Mary grew lonely, and anxiety and depression began to manifest.
Cross-sectional View of Cognitions and Behaviors
Mary’s anxiety has elevated in the last three weeks as she feels bad for not attending the anniversary of her husband’s death. She had sad thoughts about going to church and thus abandoned the idea since she did not know what to do during the service. The service was special for the family as Mary’s children were present to celebrate their father’s life. However, Mary felt unworthy to attend the service as she felt an overwhelming sadness around her. Her lack of attendance has led to the progression of her anxiety and depression as she has been unfocused and feeling down most of the time (Worden, 2018). She has experienced insomnia, a lack of motivation to finish simple tasks, and a loss of appetite as she constantly thinks about the incident.
The second instance relates to her thoughts about how her husband died. Mary blames herself for the accident as her husband was speeding to be present at the baptism of their grandchild. She feels responsible for her husband’s reckless driving attributing it to her previous wish for him not to miss the event. The third instance relates to how she handled her husband’s demise. Mary was back to her job after a week following the death of her husband; thus, she did not have adequate time to grieve. Mary suppressed her sadness by limiting her grief period and exhibited strength in controlling her emotions. However, the repressed emotions haunt her as the anniversary floods her mind with her husband’s memories.
Longitudinal View of Cognitions and Behaviors
Mary bases her anxiety on her foolishness of not being able to control her emotions. She does not accept that she had an anxiety attack since she prides herself on analyzing situations logically instead of being emotional. The irrational part of grief makes her angry as she has trained herself to separate feelings from logic. Her husband’s death anniversary evokes emotions of sadness heightened by her thoughts regarding her failure to control them.
Mary views grief as a weakness and thus is upset that the anniversary stirred sad emotions affecting her logical thinking process. She views the emotions as foreign since her husband had died a year ago; thus, there was no logical explanation for the emotions. Mary is considered a strong woman; therefore, people flock to her for advice and help. However, she has never been on the opposite side of the table where she needs help from people regarding her life issues.
Her daughter’s insistence on helping her make an appointment with a therapist had demotivated her as she did not want to be viewed as weak and unable to control her life trajectory. She views the anniversary as a moment of weakness, and she does not have the playbook on how to navigate the issue of her being helped by her children. Accepting help from people is foreign to her, thus alleviating her anxiety.
Strengths and Assets
Mary assesses situations logically to solve issues and present ideas. She critically analyzes issues before presenting a reasonable judgment that makes sense to the situation. The action plan is always impeccable as it incorporates all interested parties. Mary has a competitive spirit as she works hard to implement practices that improve work standards at the store. She has a good health record regarding her heart and lungs obtained from the emergency room.
Working Hypothesis (Summary of Conceptualization)
Mary’s anxiety and depressive state emanate from her personality of being a resourceful person; thus, the reversal of roles breeds unfamiliar emotions. She is an analytical and logical thinker who solves issues based on the presented facts instead of being irrational. Her husband, the children, and the staff all confided in her due to her ability to offer sound advice in difficult times. After her husband’s death, she did not share her experiences with close contacts as she believed people viewed her as a resourceful person, not needful. Mary’s anxiety and depression result from maintaining a strong public image regarding lack of emotions in difficult situations. She has built a wall separating her emotions from reality where she is entitled to feel sad mourning her husband’s death.
Reference
Worden, J. W. (2018). Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner. Springer Publishing Company.
The Connecticut Vs. Georgia Charters
In the pre-colonial period, North America was divided into thirteen colonies: Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, Delaware, and Connecticut. This discussion post will focus on the charters of Connecticut and Georgia. The Charter of Connecticut was secured because of Connecticut’s realization following the restoration of Charles II to the English throne in 1660 (Howard, 2022). The charter was ruled by Charles II until 1732 when King George II took over the colony and created the Charter of Georgia.
The Charter of Connecticut granted the people the democratic right to choose their governor. A corporation with lease freedom makes grants and disposes of the property. Similarly, the Charter of Georgia granted the power to trustees of a corporation to the extent that they could elect their governor and make land grants while establishing the new laws and taxes (Cooks, 2022). The organization was a benevolent body, leading to the failure of its trustees to get land or hold a position in the corporation. However, the Charter of Connecticut and the Charter of Georgia are different in that they were created over fifty years apart and appointed under different monarchs with different leaders. In the Charter of Connecticut, each Native American tribe had its leadership and territory, although they all spoke the same language and had numerous cultural commonalities (Howard, 2022). On the other hand, the colonists in Colonial Georgia enjoyed friendly interactions with the local Native Americans.
The Charter of Connecticut and the Charted of Georgia were granted far more political freedom than in the other colonies. From the similarities and differences of the charters in the two colonies, it is learned that Britain granted a charter to the colonial administration of a charter colony, which established the rules for the colony’s governance. In this case, even in the pre-colonial era, democracy was exercised in the election of governors.
References
Cooks. (2022). The Avalon Project: Charter of Georgia: 1732. Avalon.law.yale.edu.
Howard. (2022). The Avalon Project: Charter of Connecticut – 1662. Avalon.law.yale.edu.