Simone Biles watches gymnasts perform at the 2020 Summer Olympics in July after saying she wasn’t in the right “head space” to compete. Biles’ experiences have helped fuel a robust conversation about emotional health for athletes, including at the youth level. (Associated Press)
The mental health struggles of high-profile athletes have been widely reported, particularly in recent years.
However, it’s not just elite professional athletes who struggle with mental health issues.
As a former competitive swimmer, I well remember the nerves I experienced before the events. I don’t want to be crude in my description, but I spent way too much time in the bathroom dealing with my anxiety. When the event ended, I returned to a calm disposition, only to face the same nerves before the next competition.
Nerves are experienced by all athletes, even the young athletes you may be raising or training, or the kid on the street. It wouldn’t be normal if they didn’t. But when the condition becomes an everyday problem, invading many segments of their lives, it can lead to major health problems.
Is the mental health problems of young athletes a new phenomenon, or has it just been hidden in the back of the closet for years?
“I think you could say it’s a ‘phenomenon’ based on the simple fact that people now recognize that mental health problems exist and can happen to anyone,” said Bill Dean, CEO and founder of COSMH, LLC. .
COSMH works with parents, schools, organizations, and their student-athletes to provide support, tools, and training directly to families in creating a safe mental health environment and developing maintenance plans.
“It’s important to normalize it at the youth level,” Dean said. “Anxiety exists in all of us. How we deal with anxiety from day to day, game to game, definitely affects one’s performance. From a brain development perspective, youth in sports are constantly developing their default reactions to stress and obstacles.
“As coaches transform their coaching style and parents accept these challenges as normal, a young baseball player can learn to ‘take a deep breath’ or ‘focus on the trademark hit’ before stepping into the batter’s box” .
Why has the mental health of athletes suddenly come to the fore? Has youth sports culture changed to cause this?
Dean said that social media has played a big part in this awakening to the problem, along with so many professional athletes making their own struggles and challenges public. As a result, young athletes have begun to recognize and identify with the same situations.
“We all know (and I say this with concern and sarcasm) that being in the AAU or USSSA scene for a young athlete can be just as stressful as playing professionally,” he said. “Maybe more. What are we doing about it?
“Educating parents, coaches and officials or organizations to offer parallel programs that complement mental health and wellness training, in addition to the skills and physical training aspects, is a good starting point.”
Signs of mental health problems can be withdrawal behaviors, changes in appetite, poor sleep patterns, overly preoccupied body images, increased explosive responses to normal conversations, and sudden disinterest, to list a few.
“Signs should be treated like your vehicle’s dash lights,” Dean said. “If you respond accordingly when the light first goes out, the fix, remedy or repair is usually pretty straightforward. If you ignore or dismiss the signs and resist, a simple solution often turns into a much more complicated problem.”
Dean said that athletes themselves can address their mental health issues.
“Love life and be multiple,” he said. “It seems very simple, and it should be. Love each day to the best of your ability, and if you’re struggling in any area, ask for help: academics, relationships, fitness, and exercise. Enjoy every day.
“Second, play all sports early on and get involved in other activities as well: band, choir, scouts, volunteer time. As young people increase the social groups and environments around them, the skills and interaction necessary for development will increase. Open that cocoon and LIVE”.
Coaches and athletes also have a responsibility to help their young athletes deal with mental health issues. Dean said they both need to create a safe environment for mental health by completing a family, team and organization checklist.
- Coaches, are you open and transparent with parents from the starting line? “This is how we support mental wellness and fitness.” If you can’t answer that question directly, you have a gap in your program.
- Athletes, are your coaches equipped to support this area of focus?
- Coaches, do we emphasize fun, structure and measurements within the team?
- Do we have a seasonal and off-season regime around this issue?
Dean emphasized sharing the regimens of daily living that create mental wellness, such as healthy diets, healthy walking habits, outdoor play, and community involvement to create and increase that sense of self-worth and generosity. If adults don’t model it, where will young people learn it?
The mental well-being of young people is so important, not just for young athletes, that you can’t cover everything in one column. I plan to address this issue in the future and for as long as it takes to distribute the information.
Nancy Justis is a former competitive swimmer and director of college sports information. She is a partner at Outlier Creative Communications. Let him know what you think at [email protected]
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