A recent USA Today article has noted how at the Olympic level, high-profile athletes – Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, and Michael Phelps, among others – have helped open up a conversation around mental wellness and destigmatize mental health struggles. But more work remains to be done.

In March and April of 2022, the deaths by suicide of three collegiate female athletes – soccer team captain Katie Meyer of Stanford, Wisconsin track athlete Sarah Schultze, and James Madison softball player Lauren Bernett – have highlighted a critical need to address mental health on the university level.

Some colleges and universities have begun by emphasizing mental health parity, “embracing the concept that conditions related to mental health should be treated with the same focus and care as an ACL tear or concussion.” Breaking down the stigma around mental health treatment is key. According to James Borchers, president of the U.S. Council for Athletes’ Health, “We have to make it a topic that’s OK to talk about, that’s Ok to be able to speak about without any sort of stigma or without any sort of judgment.”

Approaches to mental health support for student-athletes have varied from school to school. Some colleges have stressed sports psychology in their athletic departments. Other conferences, like the Big Ten, have established initiatives to educate coaches and student-athletes on the signs that a teammate may be struggling with mental health.

On other campuses, non-profits have stepped into the gap, such as Morgan’s Message, established to honor Duke lacrosse player Morgan Rodgers, who died by suicide in 2019. The group has 800 student “ambassadors” at American and Canadian high school and college campuses. Co-founder Kat Zempolich, one of Morgan’s teammates, explains that it’s “abundantly clear that there’s a need.” She stresses the group’s emphasis on rightly defining one’s self-worth: “Your value doesn’t come from what you do…how many goals you put in the back of the net or how (many) minutes you’re on the field. It’s not based on getting an A, on getting a B, on getting a C. You are valued just being a human being, just being who you are.”

Read the whole USA Today article here.

Myerberg, Paul. “Mental health resources for student-athletes becoming priority at colleges.” USA Today, 29 Apr 2022, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2022/04/29/mental-health-student-athletes-becoming-priority-colleges/9571277002/

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