Mental health: A forefront to sports

*Disclaimer - This article briefly mentions suicide, and focuses on mental health struggles*

Sports are more than just a game. They’re more than the final buzzer and the half-court shot. Sports are about the ability to be a part of something, to be more than just yourself. Trophies, gold medals and championship rings are a plus for many athletes, but not a reason for playing. On screens all over the world, bright and beaming smiles from athletes who have won big are broadcasted. What some fail to recognize is that behind those smiles there are stressed and pressured people who sometimes put up a smile for the sake of the win.

Mental health awareness is becoming a growing problem in sports. In fact, it’s been a major issue for years. Michael Phelps is just one of the few professional athletes to share common mental struggles with the public. Recently, more athletes began to share how they grapple with mental health, allowing the public to unravel the dark past of the battle against anxiety and depression in the sports arena. During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles spoke up about her struggle with mental health.

“I feel like it’s hard, but it’s harder being a female athlete because everybody prays for your downfall and wants you to mess up and all of that stuff,” Biles commented in an interview with NBC, after announcing she would not be competing in her final events at the Olympics. Biles continued, “At the end of the day, we’re not just athletes or entertainment. We’re human too and we have emotions and feelings and things that we’re working through behind the scenes that we don’t tell you guys about. And so, I just think it’s something that people should be more aware of.”

Biles is not the only athlete who withdrew from notable sports events this year. Tennis star Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open and did not participate in Wimbledon. Osaka was featured in a Times article where she wrote a heartfelt piece on her thoughts regarding mental health and the media. “There can be moments for any of us where we are dealing with issues behind the scenes. Each of us as humans is going through something on some level.”

As athletes continue to voice the issues they are facing mentally, the concern for athlete health both mentally and physically reaches an all-time high. Many athletes have been lost to suicide in recent years. While concern for athletes is at a high point, current athletes speaking out are likely helping others deal with their own concerns. In an article by Kara Gavin published on the University of Michigan’s Athletes Connected web page titled “A game-changer for mental health: Sports icons open up,” Gavin discusses the impacts of athletes opening up about their mental health struggles. “By being open about what they were experiencing, and not ‘toughing it out’ or stifling their feelings like generations of athletes have had to do, these icons did more than spare themselves injury or defeat,” Gavin said. “Their public choice to seek help for depression, anxiety, overwhelming stress and other concerns could help athletes at all levels have the courage to seek professional help, and a break from competition if they need it.”

Michael Phelps was asked to comment on the recent rise in awareness, and his thoughts mirror the findings described above. “The biggest thing is understanding and accepting,” Phelps said. “There are millions of people out there going through the same thing I’ve gone through or Simone is going through. People are standing up and talking about it left and right. And that’s what we need.” Phelps also supported both Biles and Osaka through their Olympic endeavors, stressing to Osaka that speaking up “may have saved a life.”