MAC COSA Op Ed Re: Mental Health Concerns Amongst Student-Athletes
We are deeply concerned about the current state of mental health as a student-athlete population. Our college athletic world is losing valuable lives far too often. The thought of one of our teammates, family members, or best friends taking their own life is heartbreaking. According to the article “Identifying Stress Unique to College Athletes: Health Outcomes & Interventions,” “95% of male and 85% of female athletes report higher stress compared to non-student-athletes” (Ward, 2022). These stress factors include but are not limited to the performance and academic pressures, social and body image, identity beyond athletic ability, homesickness, transition to adulthood, stigmatization of mental health, etc. As student-athletes, we strive to make an impact on current issues, and we feel the need to help future generations be surrounded by a supportive environment. However, this should not fall on just us as student-athletes. Everyone needs to do better – coaches, administrators, athletic trainers, professors, and other faculty members. Together we have the power to prevent these tragedies. Now is the time to take action.
The Mid-American Conference has been a leader in addressing mental health issues and challenges. Since then, more and more athletics departments have become engaged in addressing student-athlete mental health concerns. Currently, within the Mid-American conference, there are multiple approaches to destigmatizing mental health within athletics. Overall, students feel there are resources being developed across campuses with the capability to improve mental health among student-athletes. However, there is an overwhelming lack of consistency and cohesiveness regarding the communication and accessibility of mental health resources, and education between coaches, administrators, and student-athletes. Simply providing resources is not enough when those resources are not promoted or fully supported by coaches and administrators.
As the mental health of student-athletes is unique to each individual, the tools and support structures need to be equally as diverse. Some specific areas of focus for these support structures currently include online resources, mental health professionals, coach education, and promotion. Many universities regularly utilize social media and email campaigns to highlight resources and destigmatize mental health.
Additionally, most universities within the MAC provide sports psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, and counselors which is a significant step in the right direction. However, on-campus resources and mental health professionals can be difficult to access, mainly due to a lack of education on how to schedule appointments and a limited amount of available mental health professionals across campus. Therefore, additional structure to these pre-existing resources is requested to provide an adequate amount of support to address the diverse needs of NCAA Division I student-athletes.
A few examples of institutions that have promoted mental health care are described below. The University of Toledo addressed one of these barriers by providing student-athletes with the ability to independently schedule appointments online to see a sports psychologist, reducing the time it takes to access help. Another example of coaching staffs encouraging mental health care is through the Bowling Green State University baseball program. Specifically, these coaches advocate the use of mental health resources by encouraging their student-athletes to meet with the athletics dedicated mental health care provider at least once a month. Furthermore, the University at Buffalo has partnered with Hilinski’s Hope (H3H), providing training for the Bulls athletics department and student-athletes. Though these initiatives are a great starting point, we must continue to build upon them.
We understand that this is a long and difficult road to provide adequate care for all, but this is essential to our lives. The ultimate goal is to provide easily accessible care and resources for all student-athletes 24/7. The proposed improvements are as follows:
Mental health training is imperative for administrators, coaches, and additional support staff.
There must be staff employed with the specific purpose of helping student-athletes with their mental health. One full-time professional is not enough to meet the demands of an entire athletics department. These professionals are highly sought out and almost always have a full waitlist. We strongly recommend hiring more care providers. Since the aspect of sport is a unique lens, these providers should reflect the student-athlete population they serve.
It would be beneficial to have positions in the athletics department to develop resources and programming to help new student-athletes transition into the university and to assist graduating student-athletes in preparing for life after sport.
We propose a requirement for a mandatory annual pre-season “Mental Health Baseline” test in addition to the physicals and concussion baseline tests.
We recommend requiring mental health check-ins for injured student-athletes, just as physical injuries undergo rehabilitation.
These recommendations are not an all-inclusive list, but in our perspective are necessary starting points to make essential changes to standardize the care provided to our population.
STATEMENT
From the perspective of Mid-American Conference student-athletes, we know this is a national issue amongst all college students; therefore, we cannot allow ourselves and our fellow athletics community members to endure any more tragedy. We can no longer let everyone think that just “checking the box” is an adequate solution to this epidemic. We must better educate ourselves and work together each and every day to fight this mental health crisis. Lack of resources cannot be an excuse when those resources are used to save the lives of those we love. Let’s work together to fight this mental health crisis by taking real action.