Imagine that there is a student who is smart enough to go to the university that everyone wants to attend, athletic enough to compete at the NCAA as a collegiate athlete, and attractive enough to have many friends, supporters, and popularity. Doesn’t it sound cool? It sounds like a dream life that everyone wants to have. However, people living this kind of life might need real help for their mental health. Recently, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has highlighted student-athlete mental issues as a crisis while admitting its urgency and magnitude in the statements to CNN about the death of Katie Meyer (22-year-old goalkeeper of “Standford University women’s Soccer team). (CNN)
In fact, various studies & data on NCAA students’ well-being reported high levels of mental health concerns. According to the survey conducted in 2020 by NCAA, “In most instances, the rates of reported mental health concerns were 150% to 250% higher than have been historically reported by NCAA student-athletes in the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment” (NCAA)
Factors that can affect mental health problems
The pandemic (COVID-19) was considered one of the leading causes affecting mental health by the NCAA study. Michael McDougall, a senior at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay men’s soccer, looked back upon that time. “When the pandemic hit and everything started to stop, we couldn’t play, train, and couldn’t even touch the field. At that time, our team members felt high stress and depression. Most importantly, we didn’t know how to manage and release this stress,” said McDougall.
However, the 2020 NCAA survey also indicates that some demographic subgroups are vulnerable to mental health, which resulted in remaining the highest rates of mental health concerns among women, student-athletes of color, those who identified themselves as bisexual or homosexual, and those who faced economic hardship. In other words, some factors, such as gender, race, or social class, can have an impact on student athletes’ mental health.
Alan Chu, assistant professor & chair of the Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology Program at UWGB, explained the reason that those factors are related to their mental health. “The identity of each student-athlete is a major factor in terms of affecting their mental health. People are unique and different, and many identities are possible, especially minority groups (non-white or LGBTQ) can be vulnerable since they already have experienced discrimination and lack of social support,” said Chu. He also mentioned coping mechanisms (coping skills) and stress management as crucial factors affecting mental health in positive ways. “Knowing how to manage stress and having coping skills can help athletes to prevent mental health problems,” said Chu.
Why is it important to train in mindfulness & psychological flexibility?
Various sports psychologists suggest training in mindfulness and psychological flexibility for better mental health. Psychological flexibility can be defined as being in contact with the present moment with emotions, sensations, and thoughts, including undesired ones, while mindfulness is defined as the awareness that emerges through paying attention to purpose in the present moment (Frontiers in Psychology).
The point is the ability to focus on the present moment. According to Professor Chu, many mental coaches use W.I.N (What’s Important Now) as the mental training program for every athlete. “People tend to think too much about the past or the future mostly negatively when they feel stressed, so the ability to focus on the present is very important, and training mindfulness helps to develop this ability, which can lead to better performance,” said Chu.
Many student-athletes are programmed to be eager for their success and achievement during the seasons, but they are often encouraged to find another joy by pursuing different things outside of their sports rather than stick to immediate achievement. “It is important to find another identity rather than being limited to athletes’ identity. By exploring other things (new dreams, interests, careers), they can find joy beyond sports,” said Chu.
The University of Wisconsin – Green bay offers various supportive services or resources, which include the Wellness Center (which has free counseling, medical, 24/7 crisis consultation, and wellness services for UWGB students) and the Pride Center (which helps the concerns and needs of LGBTQ+ students with high-quality support services) where student-athletes can use especially for their mental health, but any professor, friend, coach, or teammate can be a resource as well.
Why is mental health important for student-athletes?
Lastly, Professor Chu gave an impressive answer when he was asked, “why is mental health essential for athletes?” Chu said, “Mental health is the same as physical health, which means it is closely related to an athlete’s performance or even general life-like physical health does, so athletes need to take care of their mental health as they take care of their bodies.”
