why professional athletes need mental health treatment

How many athletes deal with mental health issues?

Sep 02, 2020 · Why Mental Health Matters. Nearly 25% of college athletes have a clinically relevant level of depression symptoms. Depression makes it hard to want to engage in practice and games, along with a lot of the normal activities …

How does mental health affect athletes?

Oct 14, 2020 · The statistics show that student-athletes desperately need real help from professionals trained to address their daily psychological well-being beyond sports. They need their emotions — sadness, hopelessness, anxiety, lack of motivation — …

Why do athletes need mental training?

Oct 18, 2020 · Athletes with good mental health don’t only trust their own abilities more, they also enjoy life more, and they approach challenges with a sense of optimism and determination. For a better relationship with the trainer and teammates. Good mental health in athletes isn’t just a quality that helps them on a personal level, it also benefits their social life and helps them to …

Are there any diets that can help mental health?

Aug 23, 2018 · Without mental wellness, one could imagine that it would be difficult to “get your head in the game”. Their focus would be lost, anxiety could kick in, and a player could just not be themselves. Once one the court production begins to decline, it becomes apparent that help is …

Why is mental health important for athletes?

Why do athletes need therapy?

How does mental health affect professional athletes?

Why do athletes need mental training?

What mental health issues do athletes have?

Why is mental health important?

Why is there a stigma on mental health in athletes?

How do professional athletes prepare mentally?

How can athletes improve mental health?

How do athletes become better mentally?

Good mental health improves the regulation of negative emotions

Emotions are an essential and inseparable part of people. Positive and negative emotions have a special function in keeping the balance between a person and their surroundings.

For better self-esteem and confidence

Self-esteem and self-confidence are related to the way we perceive, evaluate, and treat ourselves. For that reason, you could say that the better an athlete’s mental health, the better image they have of themselves.

For a better relationship with the trainer and teammates

Good mental health in athletes isn’t just a quality that helps them on a personal level, it also benefits their social life and helps them to strengthen relationships with others.

Focusing attention on what truly matters

One of the most common problems for an athlete is a lack of concentration during competitions. This distraction can be external – their rivals’ behavior, the audience, or the weather – but more often than not, it’s internal, caused by thoughts and feelings.

Good mental health is synonymous with happiness

Being mentally healthy shouldn’t be seen as a luxury that only elite athletes have. Everyone has the right to be psychologically healthy and feel good about themselves.

Mental Health & Athletes

Approximately 46.6 million people are living with mental illness in the US. That’s 1 in 5 adults who will be living with a mental health condition at some point in their lives. Many manage symptoms with therapy, medication, eating a healthy diet or exercise.

Check Out Resources

Here are a few resources if someone you or someone you know is struggling with a mental health crisis.

Share Your Story

Sharing your personal mental health story can make a difference. Breaking down the stigma can help others find the strength to get health. Dr. Emmett Gill, Clinical Assistant Professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas says, “Athletes are becoming true champions for mental health.

Call to Action!

What can you do to help? Here are a few options to consider about ways to take action around mental health.

Athlete Mental Health Considerations

The mental health of athletes is an area of emerging concern, or at least it seems to be getting more media attention than in the past. In the United States, suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10 – 34 year olds (3).

Emergent Threats

This is certainly the most serious of the categories and includes concerns that must be dealt with immediately, as in when they immediately occur. These are so serious they cannot wait until after the workout or when a strength and conditioning coach has a break from training groups.

Mental Health

Within the context of strength and conditioning, the dividing line between the emergent threats and the mental health categories listed on Table 1 is a temporal aspect.

Applied Performance

An initial dividing line between mental health concerns and applied performance concerns centers on the context of the athlete’s comments. Concerns that exist beyond sport and thus crossover into regular life as a student or non-athlete may be best-served by a mental health counselor.

Banter

The final category as described in this article is simply an acknowledgement that not every comment an athlete makes has a need for someone else to get involved. Coaches and athletes, as well as athletes to each other, say and do things as simply part of the culture of sport.

Conclusion

The coach-athlete relationship is important to the athlete’s success and that is the very reason strength and conditioning coaches need to be mindful of what athletes say and do (13). The importance of establishing productive strength and conditioning coach-athlete collaborations is well-known and voiced by expert strength and conditioning coaches.

Related Reading

National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Endorsement of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Sport Science Institute’s “Mental Health Best Practices: Inter-Association Consensus Document: Best Practices for Understanding and Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Wellness”

Athletes and mental health

Athletes often carry a larger-than-life persona in the public eye. They’re regarded as modern-day warriors, competitors who bravely push past obstacles and adversity in the pursuit of victory.

How mental health affects athletic performance

So how much can a mental health matter affect an athlete’s performance? “I think at a very basic level it’s a distraction,” says Dr. Sacco. “At the very minimum, if your mind is full of other things, then it can just be a distraction.”

Making mental health a priority for athletes

In today’s win-at-all-cost world, a competitor shutting down to deal with a mental health concern can bring unwanted labels such as “quitter.” Worries about that serve as an enormous obstacle to athletes getting the care they need.

Mental Issues Common In Sport

If you’re looking for some cold, hard facts about mental health issues common in sport I have added a couple of articles to the bottom of this article. But this is how I see it. Athletes are human too so as humans they are susceptible to all the normal psychological risks of the general population.

An Analogy

Think of it as being similar to physical health and physical strength. Everyone could try and work towards being able to lift 150 kgs but how useful is it for most of us? Where is the ‘return on investment’? Maybe using the equivalent training time to practice mindfulness would be more sensible.

What Does The Data Tell Us?

Are athletes and coaches more or less likely to experience mental issues compared with the general pollution? Luckily, work has been done to answer this question.

Author: Gareth J. Mole

Gareth J. Mole is an endorsed Sport and Exercise Psychologist. He is the founder of Condor Performance and co-creator of Metuf™. He lives between Canberra and Sydney (Australia) with his wife, their two children and their fourteen chickens. View all posts by Gareth J. Mole

Prevalence of Mental Illness

Injury and Mental Health

• Regular exercise, especially moderate or vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, is important for helping prevent and recover from mental and physical health problems. However, when performed more intensely at a professional level, physical activity can actually compromise health. Elite athletes face increased risk for sudden cardiac death and other n...

See more on mentalhealthcenter.org

Unique Risk Factors For Athletes

Mental Health & Athletes

See more on athletesforhope.org

Check Out Resources

Share Your Story

Call to Action!