A recent study investigating the mental health of athletes at the FINA World Championships in 2019 revealed that nearly 25% of the participants met the criteria for depression, and 45% expressed a desire for or a need for psychotherapeutic support. These findings underscore the importance of mental health support and resources for high performance athletes.
Use double quotes to find documents that include the exact phrase: "aerodynamic AND testing"
Use double quotes to find documents that include the exact phrase: "aerodynamic AND testing"
For men and boys, caring about sport typically conjures images of passionate competition and fighting for the win. This understanding of care leaves little room for self-care, health and safety, and emotional vulnerability — topics that are fraught with risks for boys and men in a sport culture of hypermasculinity.
The National Hockey League Players’ Association recently released its First Line Program to support player mental health. It signals that men’s hockey is finally acknowledging the long-known fact that “a hockey player struggling with mental health would have done so in silence.”
Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska recently told the Calgary Herald that talking openly about mental health is “kind of becoming the norm now, that people aren’t afraid to voice it.” Corey Hirsch, a retired goaltender recently told CBC News, “the game itself wasn’t the issue, the issue is the stigma of having to be a tough man.”
Similarly, in a recent interview on the Diary of a CEO podcast France and Arsenal soccer legend, Thierry Henry, spoke of the depression he suffered throughout his career:
“I’m a human being. I have feelings. Throughout my career and since I was born, I must have been in depression. Did I know it? No. did I do something about it? Obviously not, but I adapted.”
What we are seeing, then, is an overdue shift towards normalizing men and male athletes seeking help and gradually speaking more openly and vulnerably about mental health.
A culture of silence
There are severe problems with the culture of masculinity in men’s sport — one that means men and boys must adapt rather than seek help and tough it out rather than take a step back. This culture of silence and bullying means men and boys have been reluctant to speak up and speak out about safety and sexual assaults. It has created an environment where men and boys feel pressured to be silent about their own mental health.
On the same podcast, Henry said:
“You’ve been told since you were young, whether at home or in your job, ‘Don’t be that guy, don’t show that you’re vulnerable.’ If they cry, what are they going to think.”
This is a culture that sporting organizations are up against in their implementation of initiatives like the First Line Program.
We need to redefine what it means to care in men’s sport. And progress has been made. In addition to the NHLPA’s First Line Program, in September 2023 Hockey Canada hosted the Beyond the Boards Summit. This was an attempt to address “toxic masculinity” while simultaneously struggling to understand it.
Then, in October 2023, Hockey Canada issued a Dressing Room Policy to “enhance inclusion and safety” and “minimize occurrences of maltreatment, bullying, and harassment.”
While this is a sign of progress, there remains some reluctance to name issues such as sexual assault and homophobia when they occur.
On World Mental Health Day 2023, Norwich City Football Club launched a campaign, #youarenotalone prompting us all to check in on those around us.
Initiatives such as these speak to a form of caring masculinity that is vital if men’s sport is to be the space of support and mental health that it can be.
A complex relationship
At times, novel ideas are borne in times of crisis; only now are we starting to make sense of the socio-cultural impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The complex relationship between sport and boys’ mental health became apparent when sport facilities closed for social distancing measures, negatively impacting their social, mental and emotional health.
One boy from our study described his struggles during the pandemic: “I just kind of felt sad… not being able to go rock-climbing.” In a similar vein, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri spoke in October 2023 about how many of his players — including young academy players — were suffering with depression in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But this disruption has also forced boys to engage with their emotions. One boy told us: “I became way more in touch with myself and my emotions.” The same sentiment is echoed by Henry, who said of the pandemic:
“Something like that had to happen for me to understand vulnerability, empathy, and crying. Understand that anger and jealousy are normal… I was crying every day for no reason… it was weird, in a good way.”
What does this tell us about sport and mental health? Primarily that sport in its traditional guise does not provide space for men’s and boys’ vulnerability and mental health.
Cultivating care in men’s sport
We can reimagine sport to be inclusive, diverse and safe, in order to tap into the positive potential of sports. But it requires redefining what it means to care. This does not mean discarding the importance of sporting competition, but rather recognizing and developing the potential for self-care and mutual support in men’s sport.
In our research with male athletes, we found that creating diverse sporting spaces facilitated open and vulnerable conversations, and promoted a culture of care and support that was important to these athletes.
These attempts at inclusion and diversity were not without their pains. The traditional culture of men’s sports sometimes reared its head making some men — particularly queer men — feel excluded, marginalized and unsafe. But the creation of spaces of emotional vulnerability and support nevertheless showed what is possible if the power of sport is harnessed and reimagined in novel ways.
This article was originally published on January 31, 2024 in The Conversation.
This study showed that female athletes exhibited more positive attitudes towards seeking help and held higher expectations regarding counseling compared to male athletes. These findings shed light on potential gender-related disparities in the perception of mental health support in sport, emphasizing the need for tailored approaches to adapt to the diverse needs of athletes.
In a study that delved into the perspectives of retired Olympians regarding the factors that influence athlete well-being post-retirement, participants highlighted the critical role of coaches, support staff, and others in the training environment. This finding underscores the importance of fostering positive relationships to enhance psychological safety and well-being after retiring from sport.
Mental health and mental health disorders affect people from all walks of life. Elite athletes face unique challenges in dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), with an estimated 1 in 8 experiencing this condition. This recent study explores the complexities of diagnosing and treating PTSD in athletes, highlighting best practice models for mental health screening and emphasizing the importance of involving the athlete’s multidisciplinary team for effective treatment.
Mental health is an integral and essential component of human health, and an unhealthy lifestyle can be associated with poor mental health. A recent study encourages the integration of micro- and macronutrients in a well-balanced and varied diet, accompanied by a healthy lifestyle, for preservation of normal brain function and well-being.
Did you know that the effects of pressure on sports performance are more complex than commonly assumed? A new study examined various pressure conditions in golf putting and found that while some conditions impaired performance, others actually improved it! Considering individual pressure factors and tailoring conditions accordingly may optimize performance and highlights the need for personalized approaches in sports psychology.
Prioritizing mental health is crucial, and regular exercise is a powerful tool in achieving it. The therapeutic effects of nature on our well-being have garnered significant attention in recent years. A recent study underscores the potential of nature walks in effectively reducing anxiety levels.
Too often we hear older generations, especially in sports, use put downs like “snowflake,” “entitled,” “soft,” sometimes accompanied by swear words and homophobic slurs. All forms of bullying. What many coaches and parents do not realize is that from a brain science point of view, youth are truly vulnerable. They do not choose to be sensitive, just like they don’t choose the intensive physical changes that occur with adolescent hormones. We tend to want to protect younger children, but from a brain perspective, teen and twenty-something brains are the most vulnerable. It is why we need to pay far more attention to our words.
At the same time the body starts to change, the brain spurs the teenager with curiosity and courage to leave the family home and venture forth into the world in order to find a new group (peers) and ultimately a mate. Evolution activates hormonal and brain changes to encourage teens to accomplish this demanding challenge.
Teens and twenty-somethings are programmed to be risk-takers, reward-seekers, creative, emotional, and laser focused on peers. Learning quickly is key to survival. The engagement with peers and one’s new social standing activate new experiences of intense emotion. Impulsivity contributes to the adventure. Being shamed or ostracized in front of peers can seriously harm the developing brain during this time of heightened plasticity and sensitivity.
The adult brain is different. Around the age of 24, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is fully mature. Scientists think of the PFC as the CEO of the brain: rational, reasonable, weighs pros and cons, thinks about future consequences. Another key aspect of an adult brain is that it has been influenced for much longer by its society.
If adults live in a culture of normalized bullying, and perhaps even an unspoken belief that bullying is a necessary evil for greatness, then they may normalize bullying incidents. Beliefs get wired into our brains during our formative years and we tend to interpret this wiring as “reality” or a preferred way of thinking and acting. Adults have well-established neural networks that are wired over time by their environment and by what they practice. They believe the “reality” of their beliefs and experiences.
We tend to treat bullying as a childhood or school issue, but the difficult truth is adults enable and role-model bullying. It is well-documented to be learned behaviour. Bullying manifests in politics, the workplace, domestic spaces, and seeps into childhood infecting sports, schools, arts, and even places of worship. That’s the bad news.
The good news is: our brains, even adult brains, are innately wired to repair and recover. We all have neuroplasticity until our final day on the planet. That means we can change our brains based on what we practice. If we are part of the intergenerational bullying cycle, we can step off that treadmill, and pursue a healthier path.
Is it tough? Yes. Does it take hard work, commitment, and a great deal of practice. Yes. But this is why sports leaders and coaches could lead the way. They live and breathe the world of practice, training, refining, and striving relentlessly for excellence.
Some coaches, sports leaders, and parents may panic. They’ve been told and trained to believe that focusing on holistic athlete health and wellbeing leads to mediocre results. They believe that motivation and discipline through humiliation, pushing athletes beyond their physical capacity, depriving them of water and food, measuring their bodies, behaviours, and interactions, is the path to greatness. It’s a myth.
Truth is regardless of what you call it, all forms of bullying and abuse can do physical damage to brain architecture. The neurological scars are visible on brain scans. We used to think returning to play right after a concussion was a badge of honour and toughness, when in fact it’s a traumatic brain injury. Scientists now have enough peer-reviewed, replicated research via brain images to know that bullying and abuse harm the brain. They do not enhance performance.
The damage done to brains by the stress of normalized bullying impacts learning, skill development, problem-solving, and memory. It can cause inflammation in the brain and body leading to potentially serious health impacts. The brain channels resources into threat assessment, protection, and survival, not on all the demands of being a competitive athlete.
Our laws encourage us to believe that physical blows to the body are far more serious than blows to the brain through our use of words. Our laws are not up to date with science. Verbal abuse can damage brains. Teen and twenty-something brains are especially sensitive and vulnerable to all forms of bullying, including the kind conveyed by put-downs.
We have the capacity to oust abuse in sport. Hurt brains hurt, but neuroscientists document and outline evidence-based practices to repair, rehabilitate, and recover hurt brains. Sport leaders and coaches are well-versed in physical rehabilitation, but many have yet to discover the realm of brain-rehab post-bullying and abuse. While toxic environments and practices cause the brain physical trauma, visible on brain scans, scientists have extensive research on practice strategies to repair the harm done.
Likewise, sport leaders and coaches are well-versed in physical fitness, but many have not yet discovered the world of “brain fitness.” Dr. Michael Merzenich is a leader in the world of brain-rehab and brain-fitness. While he and a team of neuroscientists were in the lab developing an online gamified program to rehab brain traumas and prevent dementia in ageing populations, they received a call from Tom Brady’s trainer, Alex Guerrero. He asked the scientists if they knew the famous quarterback was using their brain-fitness program.
Bullying causes brains to feel under threat. It interferes with focus, team connection, and produces performance blocks. In contrast, mindfulness practice, aerobic fitness, a sense of security, and trust provide the space for brains to excel. Like Tom Brady, who included Merzenich’s brain-training in his TB12 method, all athletes and teams can benefit from knowing what makes their brain safe, healthy, strong, flexible, and competitive. Repairing and strengthening brains build better performance and provide a competitive advantage. Sport isn’t just a mental game, it’s a brain game.
It is crucial to maintain both mental and physical health for optimal living and sport performance. A recent study has discovered that engaging in physical activity, particularly through outdoor swimming, is perceived to yield positive health impacts. This practice is linked to reductions in symptoms related to mental health, musculoskeletal issues, injuries, as well as cardiovascular and blood conditions.