Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

College student-athletes are at an increased risk for mental-health disorders that disrupt their overall wellbeing and performance. The majority of student-athletes stay silent about their emotional state because their glamorized stereotype on campus contradicts the stigma associated with mental health decline (Hendrickson, 2018; Velasco, 2017; Mayes, 2018). Many ex-athletes believe that they experience the same stages of grief as a death due to their exposure to overwhelming circumstances in their playing careers (Tinley, 2015; Mayes 2018). However, every college student-athlete experiences stress. That stress is different than their non-athlete peers because of their schedule and physical turmoil that they are encountering on a daily basis (Mayes, 2018). The majority of athletic programs are lacking in the support they can give to a student-athletes overall wellbeing at this time. Only about 39% Division I university athletic programs in the US have a full-time licensed mental health professional in their athletic department, which proves a large and detrimental gap of available services(Spencer, 2018). Athletic programs need to begin to prioritize the need for mental health professionals and training for their coaches and staff. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has an opportunity to implement mandatory standards for athletic programs and create a culture where care seeking support for mental health issues becomes as normative as seeking care for physical issues.