During the Summer Olympics in Tokyo last year, star gymnast Simone Biles shed light on the mental health issues many Olympians face when she decided to withdraw from competition.
Now, the best figure skaters, skiers and snowboarders in the United States will compete for gold medals as they also face the strain of a global pandemic for the second year in a row.
“The Olympics present particularly unique challenges for elite athletes,” Dr. Joshua Norman, a sports psychiatrist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told ABC News. “A lot of them train their whole lives for this moment and a lot of them get cut out of their support systems.”
He continued: “With the isolated experience of being in the Olympic Village, with such an intense focus on competition…and particularly in the current climate with COVID-19 with athletes being tested multiple times a day and then being more isolated for fear of contracting COVID-19, it is a unique experience that can place significant physical and mental strain on elite athletes.”
For the Beijing Winter Olympics, Team USA has made it a priority to address and protect the mental health of its more than 200 athletes.
What does Team USA plan to do?
Athletes will have access to therapists and psychiatrists throughout the Olympic Village and venues, the ability to attend individual or group therapy sessions and a crisis hotline they can call, said Dr. Jessica Bartley, director of services mental health of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, during a media summit in October 2021.
She said most of the athletes underwent various mental health screenings.
“Most of our winter athletes, in fact, did some mental health screening around anxiety, depression, eating disorders, sleep, alcohol and drug use during the summer,” Bartley said. “And then we’re going to repeat that. And we’re also going to try to keep an eye on them a little bit.”
Team USA has also compiled a list of advisors athletes can contact who will allow free access to wellness apps.
In addition to the pressure of competing, Olympians will have several strict rules during the Games, including staying within the closed circuit system that does not allow outsiders, daily check-ins and tests, wearing masks with few exceptions, and avoiding hugs or handshakes. hands. according to the Olympic Games Playbook.
Norman said athletes do what they can to be physically and mentally prepared, but some of the strict measures can be difficult to manage.
“Certainly once you get there and it’s such a strange experience, particularly for those who are the first time participating in the Olympics, it can be a bit of an overwhelming experience at times,” he said.
Athletes putting their mental health first
Dr. Leela Magavi, a psychiatrist who sees several patients who are students and professional athletes, offered some advice for athletes. For example, instead of practicing all day, athletes can take mindful walks, write in a journal, or spend time talking with family members.
He also recommended that Team USA advocate for athletes to express their thoughts openly.
“Instead of asking a closed question, ‘Are you depressed or anxious?’ ask ‘How are you dealing with anxiety?'” Magavi told ABC News. “When they’re anxious and internalizing those feelings, they don’t sleep as well, they don’t eat as well, they don’t play as well.”
Norman said it’s important not only for athletes to stay abreast of current treatments, but also to have constant communication with their support staff for any new or evolving conditions that may be affecting them.
Biles isn’t the first athlete to speak out about mental health. Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, has been candid about his struggles with ADHD, depression and even suicidal thoughts.
Yet Biles is perhaps the most high-profile athlete to pull out of events to focus on her sanity after revealing she had “the spins,” which is when a gymnast loses sense of where she is in the air.
“Every time I think about Biles’ decision, she really helped get people talking,” Magavi said. “There were people saying, ‘I never thought you could do that. If you were experiencing something like twists, that might even say that.’ I think her decision bridged the gap between mental and physical health.”
And it seems that some professional athletes have followed suit.
Before the NHL announced that no hockey players would travel to the Olympics due to Beijing’s strict COVID measures, Las Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner said he would not play for the Swedish national team, citing safety issues. mental health.
Lehner, who has been open about his bipolar disorder diagnosis, said that after consulting with his doctors, he made the difficult decision to stay in the United States.
“The reality is that what [has] has been said about how it’s going to be that it’s not ideal for my mental health,” he tweeted on Dec. 6. “Took a long time to make [a] decision with my psychiatrist and my family. my well-being [has to] coming first and being locked up and not knowing what happens if you test positive is [too] too much risk for me.”
Pundits praised Lehner for his decision, calling it “courageous.”
“It takes an enormous amount of trust to speak up,” he said. “Athletes are used to internalizing their feelings. When athletes can’t sleep, eat or function, it’s often associated with poor athletic performance.”
How athletes speaking out remove stigma
Magavi said he hopes more athletes talking about mental health will take some of the pressure off athletes.
“Athletes are human beings just like you and me,” he said. “Athletes have all kinds of insecurities. They want to win gold as much as we want them to win it for us. But they also have the right to decide if they want to play.”
“They’re more attenuated with their bodies, their emotions, and if they feel like it’s not the right time, it’s their call,” he added.
Norman said speaking athletes could also remove the stigma around mental health for ordinary Americans and help them realize how common mental health conditions are.
“You’re not alone. Extremely high performers like Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, a lot of elite athletes, also struggle with mental health conditions,” he said. “I think having people like that with those kinds of platforms speaking out, it really helps not only other athletes, but also people within the general population who may look up to these athletes. It can help them seek treatment.”
The psychiatrists added that giving Olympic athletes a chance to address their mental health issues will lead to better performances and, in turn, lead to more medals for the US.
“If we come back with healthy and safe players, we can get the gold back as well,” said Magavi. “It’s a win-win situation.”
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