When the Summer Games in Paris came to a close, it placed an unprecedented emphasis on the mental health of athletes. The organization launched a new mental health helpline, provided 2,000 licenses to athletes for a meditation app and announced it would offer ongoing well-being support to all Paris Olympians for up to four years after the competition. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has implemented similar initiatives, including boosting the number of therapists traveling with the teams. The increased focus on mental health comes after Simone Biles withdrew from the women’s gymnastics team final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, bringing high-profile attention to the issue.
Even so, the mental health of student-athletes is still too often overlooked. A recent NCAA survey, for example, found that only half of college athletes feel comfortable seeking help from an on-campus mental health provider. The survey also revealed that college athletes believe their coaches prioritize their physical condition over their mental health. One-third of elite athletes, including those who perform at the Olympic and professional levels, report that they experience mental health challenges like depression, anxiety and eating disorders. New research has found that suicide rates among college varsity athletes have doubled over the past two decades.
Sports medicine is now a $10 billion industry, devoted to helping athletes stay in peak physical condition, but the mental health of athletes remains an afterthought. Despite more attention now being paid to the mental health of top athletes, stigma persists and services are resources are difficult to access. Sports medicine, sports psychology and mental performance services are inextricably intertwined, but they are rarely in conversation with one another.
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Colleges and universities have the power to change this dynamic. By incorporating rigorous instruction in psychology and mental performance training into sports medicine programs, they can lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive approach to performance management.
Student-athletes face immense pressure to perform both on and off the field. Their successes are on public display—and so are their failures. Their livelihoods, financial futures, relationships with their teammates and coaches, and so much more all rely on their ability to win. The time and effort they spend to improve their physical performance can sap the energy needed to handle the day-to-day stress around family, school, work, and their own lives.
Institutions should ensure that athletic trainers, sports medicine practitioners and others who treat athletes—from youth leagues to the pros—graduate with a full understanding of these pressures. They should be knowledgeable about professional, ethical and evidence-based mental health standards. They should also be capable of assessing well-being and making appropriate referrals for those who may need support from a licensed clinical sports psychologist or training from a certified mental performance consultant. These practitioners are certified through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), which offers the only accredited credential in mental performance professional practice. They help athletes strengthen their confidence, motivation, focus, and physical and emotional regulation.
It is critical that graduates of sports medicine programs are prepared to support athletes in both their physical and mental health, enhancing their overall well-being and ultimately improving athletic performance. This requires institutions to reimagine how they approach these interconnected disciplines.
For instance, National University, where I serve as the dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Psychology and Social Sciences, has created the Center for Performance Psychology. The center offers free online resources to student-athletes, coaches and parents that highlight the latest research and best practices around sports psychology to help support players and coaches. The center also provides conferences, workshops and certificate courses to raise public awareness about the role of performance psychology not only in athletics but also in businesses and other organizations.
Athletes at all levels are trained to “leave it all on the field,” as the saying goes. Sports medicine by design, is oriented around helping them do just that. But this intense focus on winning often risks ignoring the difficult battles athletes face off the field in the form of stress, anxiety, exhaustion and depression. Mental health challenges do not recognize sidelines or foul lines. When sports medicine, clinical sport psychology and mental performance training are combined, athletes can receive the support their bodies and their minds need to reach not only peak athletic performance but peak well-being.
