October 10 is international World Mental Health Day. A day devoted to “global mental health education, awareness, and advocacy against social stigma.” Connecticut College’s chapter of The Hidden Opponent, a non-profit mental health advocacy group for student-athletes, had events every day of the week leading up to, and including on this day, aimed at raising awareness for student-athlete mental health and addressing the stigma of mental health within sports culture.
There is arguably nothing more important than our mental health. It is what allows us to feel happy, healthy, and safe. For many young people, sports are a crucial part of feeling mentally sound, affording us opportunities to spend time with friends, compete and exercise.
Professional athletes act as important role models for many people, myself included. It can be a huge perspective shifter to see a famous athlete who seemingly dominates everyone in their path on the outside, admitting that they don’t feel quite as mighty on the inside. Star athletes shedding their invincible image and allowing themselves to be vulnerable can be a huge spark for conversations around well-being, reminding people that they don’t have to be so tough, especially in a pandemic when it is more important than ever to be well.
Earlier in 2021, top Women’s tennis player Naomi Osaka put mental health first by withdrawing from two major tournaments, The French Open and Wimbledon. The decision was in wake of feelings of doubt when facing the media, which sparked a conversation all across the world of sports regarding the role of media and their treatment of athletes. She was welcomed with almost unilateral support from fellow athletes. Similarly, when star gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from multiple Olympic events this summer in Tokyo because she wasn’t in the right headspace, most people understood.When hockey player Stephen Johns rollerbladed across the country to raise awareness for mental health, people felt less alone. And most recently, Montreal Canadiens’ long-time goalkeeper Carey Price decided to step away from the game and seek help through the NHLPA’s assistance program, which “helps players and their families with mental health.” Most importantly these athletes have reinforced what should already be known: it is okay to not be okay.
Unfortunately, athletes like these who were brave enough to speak out about their struggles weren’t immune to facing the negativity that came with their willingness to open up. Simone Biles received a lot of hate for her decision to back out of her events, with people labeling her as “selfish” and “weak” in the media. Naomi Osaka was fined $15,000 and threatened with expulsion from the French Open for skipping her press conference in favor of her mental health. The French Open even posted a now-deleted tweet following Osaka’s withdrawal with pictures of other athletes participating in press conferences captioned “they understood the assignment.” These all show classic reactions and stigmas discouraging the important conversations surrounding mental health that need to be changed.
Mental health is especially important for college athletes who balance academics, athletics, and all the other aspects of college life on ultra-busy schedules. Victoria Garrick, the founder of The Hidden Opponent, highlighted this in a TED Talk she gave, explaining the sometimes unbearable stress she went through balancing a schedule with practically zero free time as a division one volleyball player at the University of Southern California.
Additionally, Garrick explained the issue as clear as day when she noted that an injury like a sprained ankle is visible and easy to understand and see. If somebody misses practice for a physical injury nobody doubts their toughness or willingness to compete. Everybody understands that it is an injury that is common and needs time to rest and heal. When the issue, or “injury”, if you will, is invisible, or “hidden,” the meaning behind the name of The Hidden Opponent, that hurt is impossible to see and therefore harder to understand. As a result, physical ailments receive much more understanding and respect than mental ones but it takes that much more courage to speak out to address a mental illness that only that person themselves is aware of.
Connecticut College is one of 35 colleges and universities with its own The Hidden Opponent chapter. Abigail King ‘23, the co-president of the club, has many ideas and events planned aimed at completing their goal of destigmatizing mental health in student-athlete culture. The club will use its Instagram account for “Motivation Mondays” and “Feature Fridays.” Motivation Mondays will celebrate club members with an image of them and a quote to be posted on THO’s Instagram story. Feature Fridays will introduce club members and the reason they chose to join THO. Every club meeting will have different pro-mental health themes like self-love, mental toughness, and creating safe spaces on campus. Club members also work in groups to come up with ideas of their own like hosting a therapy-dog event on campus and further exploring sports-centric mental health-related issues like balancing a social life and being rested ahead of athletic contests. The club will also host guest speakers like Emily Mauro, a sport and exercise psychology professor and track and field coach here on campus.
Last and maybe most importantly, THO at Conn will have coach-nominated team representatives from each sports team on campus. These team representatives will act as liaisons between THO and their sports teams, responsible for taking time at practice to share THO’s focus for that week and checking in on teammates to make sure all are in a good place, and sharing the on-campus mental-health resources with them if they aren’t.
While Connecticut College doesn’t have the ideal combination of a clinical sports psychologist and registered dietitian on staff to serve the athletes the way a division one school might, the counseling center offers all students, not just athletes, the ability to be treated at no cost. This includes individual and group counseling as well as other treatments like light therapy. Right now Colby College is the only NESCAC school with a clinical sports psychologist and dietitian on staff, something that might be worth considering in the future for Conn, along with potentially having a mental performance coach to help athletes be in the best possible mindset ahead of competitions.
The conversation around mental health is one that isn’t discussed enough. Maybe this article can be just a drop in the bucket for change.
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