“student-athletes on campuses are hit with more pressure to perform and excel” than the average student, sports psychologist and university of mississippi counsellor josie nicholson told the washington post. they live such hectic schedules with so many expectations. … there’s not really much time to stop and process anything.”
some former student athletes have spoken up about the pressures they faced. harry miller, a former football player for ohio state, announced in march that he was medically retiring from athletics for his own mental health. he had come close to killing himself last year, he wrote in a statement on twitter.
“at the time, i would rather be dead than a coward,” miller said. “a person like me, who supposedly has the entire world in front of them, can be fully prepared to give up the entire world. this is not an issue reserved for the far and away. it is in our homes. it is in our conversations. it is in the people we love.”
he also wrote that he was grateful for the support of his coach, who put in an infrastructure to help athletes in his situation.
elijah wade, a former football player for ucla, has also opened up about the his experience as a student athlete. wade medically retired in spring 2020 because an off-season injury he said was mishandled by his university administration led to physical and emotional trauma, the la times reported.
but following his retirement, wade decided to run for the undergraduate student association council, aiming to advocate for the physical and emotional health of student athletes.
in the early days of the pandemic, student athletes were pressured to keep playing, wade said. there were even discussions of students losing scholarships if they choose not to play. “you’re essentially forcing student-athletes to return and risk their lives without compensation,” he told the times.
he was disappointed he couldn’t keep playing, but is glad he’s able to help other athletes, wade told the paper.
“i felt that i had a voice, that i’m a person that was willing to take everything that came with this position and put myself in the crossfire, so that students could have someone that had their best interest at heart.”
mental health crises seem to be intensifying among student athletes: “the professional consensus is that the incidence of anxiety and depression among scholastic athletes has increased over the past 10 to 15 years,” sports psychologist marshall mintz, who works with teenagers, told the atlantic in 2019. the physically demanding schedules of athletics can lead to sleep deprivation, which exacerbated depression and anxiety. intense training can also mean less time to spend with supportive friends, or doing other activities.
university is also a time when students “stop talking about who they are and emphasize what they do,” nicholson told the washington post. “their world becomes about taking that dream and living up to those expectations.” that single-mindedness can leave students totally adrift when an injury prevents them from playing or competing — as with arlana miller’s torn acl.
what can be done to help athletes with mental health
at the very least, there need to be mental health supports available for student athletes — and they need to actually be accessible.
athletes need to be “hearing from coaches, everybody, what the resources are and encouraging them to use those resources, while genuinely checking in with each other,” nicholson said.
encouragement from coaches and other athletic leaders can make a big difference in getting students to actually seek help for mental illness, experts say.
“working to de-stigmatize seeking help within athletics culture is also a critical step,” sports psychologist julie amato told the washington post. “too often we hear there were no signs — which tells me the person was likely struggling internally but did not know how to talk about it, or what to do about it.”
coaches, too, can learn to advocate for their athletes. jolee paden, a high-school cross-country coach in washington, d.c., told the atlantic that she took an eight-hour course on how to actually recognize signs of distress in her students and start talking to them about seeking help. “i walked away with some actual tools for responding rather than far-off theories,” paden told the magazine.
if you’re thinking about suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, contact the canada suicide prevention service at 1.833.456.4566 toll free or connect via text at 45645, from 4 p.m. to midnight et.
maija kappler is a reporter and editor at healthing. you can reach her at mkappler@postmedia.com
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