Mental Health in the Sports World

Mental health in athletics is often overlooked. A majority of athletes say that mental health struggles comes with playing a sport, and that every one experiences these struggles at some point in their careers.

While several of them have gone public about their battles with mental health, there are still a lot of things people don't know about mental struggles in athletics.

According to a study done by the American College of Sports Medicine, 35% of elite athletes suffer from eating disorder, depression, anxiety, or burnout. In the first five months of 2022, at least four college athletes died by suicide.

What people don't know about mental health in sports

There are many things that fans don't understand about the mental aspect of sports. Players deal with lots of thoughts and feelings in their everyday lives.

"People don’t know how hard it is to remember plays in heated moments or how it feels to play mid level basketball when you know you put the work in for these types of moments,” said Justin Wright-Foreman, the former 53rd pick by the Utah Jazz in the 2019 NBA draft. “Nobody understands the stress and that’s what sometimes sucks is because, it's hard when you are by yourself and have all of these thoughts running around in your head."

People can make an athlete feel immense pressure to perform at a certain level.

"Playing in the NBA, I felt a lot of pressure because, it's like a dream job for all of my friends and my peers," said Charles Jenkins, the former 44th pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2011 NBA draft. "It was a big accomplishment for myself, but it was very distant from my reality, which was earning minutes, which I had very limited time. So I spent a lot of time hiding how I naturally felt because I had an amazing amount of pressure, just amongst myself and just from my peers."

Playing overseas was another tough adjustment for Jenkins. After attending high school five minutes away from his house, and college thirty minutes away, he didn’t have home as an outlet.

"Being in Europe, being alone, away from your family, being in a foreign country. Having those days where you miss being able to just go walking, and go drive to see your Mom," Jenkins said.

It's not just what happens physically to an athlete that affects their play. What happens in their lives also plays a part.

"I think one of the big things people don't know about mental health in sports is that it can affect your performance on the field or on court," said Chris McCullough, the former 29th pick by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2015 NBA draft.

Justin Wright-Foreman (photo courtesy of Chris Marion/Getty Images)

Charles Jenkins (photo courtesy of Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)

Chris McCullough (photo courtesy of Rocky Widner/Getty Images)

Why athletes go through struggles

A variety of things cause an athlete to go through hard times mentally.

“I know for me, being overseas is tough,” Wright-Foreman said. “You are alone and have nothing but your thoughts to deal with after a bad game, arguments, things going on at home or sometimes you just miss your people."

According to Wright-Foreman, fans are also a factor.

"If you lose a game overseas, it is like the end of the world. You get all types of racist and crazy DMs that you would never think of,” Wright-Foreman said.

Lots of athletes are affected by the pressure.

"Whether it's being the best high school player and going to a division 1 college, where you have the opportunity to play in front of a lot of fans," Jenkins said. "A lot of people have invested things into you and maybe gave you some pressure without even knowing that. It weighs on the way you approach certain things."

Jenkins also felt that social media causes problems.

"Nowadays with social media, comments, and things that can really get to your head when you see them. I think it raises a lot more pressure for the youth because everyone wants to have the best highlight posted and get noticed," Jenkins said.

Athletes deal with a lot physically, which also takes a mental toll.

"Mental struggles that I've gone through myself is injury," McCullough said. "I've personally been through three knee reconstructions myself, so I always had to have the mindset and attitude with coming back 100% and preparing myself for what's next."

Justin Wright-Foreman (photo courtesy of Melissa Majchrzak/Getty Images)

Charles Jenkins (photo courtesy of Rodolfo Molina/Getty Images)

Chris McCullough (photo courtesy of Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Do teams express the importance of mental health?

Wright-Foreman said NBA teams give their players resources.

"I have been lucky enough to be with the Jazz where we have had outlets for mental health. Every team has a therapist of some sort that you can go to talk to about your problems if you trust them."

While playing overseas, this has been the opposite.

"Overseas you are your only outlet. You have to deal with every emotion by yourself and nobody cares what you're going through," Wright-Foreman said.

While playing in Russia in 2016-17, Jenkins had a similar experience of having to deal with emotions himself.

Last year, Jenkins was at home for the full season, so he coached high school basketball in Brooklyn. He said telling his story, and explaining the true feeling of mental health to up and coming athletes is tougher.

"It's a little bit hard for me to share that with really younger guys because social media is their thing. This is the social media era, especially for 16 and younger kids."

Mental health is a major focus for other teams, no matter how hard it is.

"Only time I've had coaches express the importance of mental health is at IMG Academy [sports brand] where I went for a post grad year," McCullough said. "We had days where we would have mental health classes and awareness."

Justin Wright-Foreman (photo courtesy of Juan Ocampo/Gettyimages)

Charles Jenkins (photo courtesy of Jesse D. Garrabrant/Gettyimages)

Chris McCullough (photo courtesy of Garrett Ellwood/Gettyimages)

Justin Wright-Foreman (photo courtesy of Juan Ocampo/Getty Images)

Charles Jenkins (photo courtesy of Panagiotis Moschandreou/Getty Images)

Chris McCullough (photo courtesy of David Liam Kyle/Getty Images)

How more attention can be brought to the topic

There are many ways that more attention can be brought to mental health in sports.

"Expressing how important it is to check on your loved ones and personally finding ways to keep yourself afloat while doing whatever it is you do," Wright-Foreman said. "Whatever sport or job you play it's all about consistency and just always keeping faith."

Settings where athletes can share their feelings may also help.

"We need a safe space among athletes that can share what they're going through amongst each other," Jenkins said. "Create some type of safe environment, where it's okay to cry or express what you're really going through. One environment where everyone's leaning on one-another for guidance."

McCullough had similar ideas.

"We should do more mental health check-ups and awareness. To help athletes across the globe deal with it."

Justin Wright-Foreman's message:

"Really find a way to effectively manage emotions, lean on your significant other or family, and just continue to work endlessly of your goals because at the end of the day, we have to remember we didn't get all this for no reason."

Chris McCullough's message: