For athletes, athletic performance is measured by physical health. As an athlete, you consistently track your weight, strength, and speed, aiming to improve each to thrive in your Sport. However, the mental health of athletes often goes unseen and unchecked, and as a result, many struggle.
Importance of Mental Health For Athletes
When athletes are injured physically, they are given resources and rest to help heal before they return to their Sport. However, when these injuries are mental, athletes rarely take the time needed to recover. Some see admitting mental illness and seeking help as a weakness; the competitive nature of Sports deters athletes from speaking up. Many athletes never reach out for help, resulting in increased depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. With increased competitive pressure, public presence, and burnout, athletes need resources and guidance to handle their symptoms.
Common Mental Health Challenges
Athletes tend to suffer from depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. Many of these can manifest themselves as stress, eating disorders, burnout, and suicidal thoughts. Athletes tend to have increased pressure placed on them. Professional athletes have to deal with income and public attention. Student athletes handle coursework on top of their athletic commitments. The uncertainty of an athletic career, such as practice schedules and competitions won, creates a stressful environment for athletes. These factors affect each athlete differently. While some athletes thrive under these conditions, others struggle.
Impact on Performance
Mental health can have a direct effect on athletic performance and career longevity. Issues with mental health can decrease confidence for athletes, resulting in failure to reach their full potential. Negative thoughts can disrupt training and performance, and some athletes may even lose passion for their Sport.
Barriers to Seeking Help
Athletic environments are often filled with intense competition and pressure. This can result in an overemphasis on mental toughness, causing athletes to feel the need to “hide” their struggles with mental illness out of fear of being perceived as weak. However, it is important to know that there is no correlation between physical strength and emotional strength. Even the strongest athletes can struggle with their mental health. Along with this, many athletic programs lack the resources needed to properly deal with athlete mental health. This can be because of a lack of funding, staffing, or even awareness of their athletes’ struggles.
The Role of Insurance in Mental Health Support
Historically, Insurance Companies have provided significantly more support for physical health services than for mental health services. Thankfully, this is changing as the stigma around mental illness decreases. In 2008, the Mental Health Parity Law was passed for Insurance Companies to provide coverage for mental health, behavioral health, and substance-related disorders similarly to physical health coverage.
Current States of Insurance Coverage
Many athletic programs fail to provide the necessary resources for athletes struggling with their mental health due to a lack of funding or staffing. Private Insurance Companies are not required to provide mental health services coverage. The mental health parity law only requires that mental health coverage is equivalent to physical health coverage if they offer it in the first place. There is an overall lack of proper coverage for mental health services in Insurance, especially for athletes.
Case Studies
Many athletes have begun to speak out about their struggles with mental health and how they dealt with it. Michael Phelps, the world-famous Olympic champion, opened up about his own struggles with depression as a highly competitive swimmer. The Olympian recounted how he neglected to share his feelings and suffered from multiple depressive episodes. Phelps went through shame, isolation, addiction, and suicidal thoughts before he sought help. By opening up and seeking help, Phelps was able to learn how to deal with his depression. Today, Phelps is an activist in athlete mental health, encouraging other athletes to open up and give resources, such as therapy, a chance.
Athletes are defined by their physical strength, but they need to take care of their mental strength as well to continue performing in the Sport they love. O2 Sports Insurance provides coverage to athletes to ensure they are able to support their Team and compete at the highest level they can.