Breaking the cycle of shame over mental struggles in athletics

Long before sports superstars Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles stepped into the limelight to defend their sanity, Graig Chow, a certified mental performance consultant at UC Berkeley, studied the culture that drives elite athletes like NBA players Chamique Holdsclaw, Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan at their breaking points.

What he found was a top-down global sports facility that struggles to differentiate between competitive anxiety and clinical mental disorders.

By the time top athletes are retiring from competition due to mental health issues, they’ve likely endured years of stigma-induced shame, said Chow, director of high performance and wellness at UC Berkeley’s . Cameron Institute for Student-Athlete Development.

But how do you resist a traditionally ruthless culture, especially for college athletes who lack the star power of Osaka, the quadruple Japanese Grand Slam champion in tennis and Biles, the US Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics?

“Getting up and standing up for yourself is tough when you’re depressed or very anxious, and when there’s so much at stake,” Chow said. “That’s why we need to take ownership – as athletic directors, coaches and support staff – to release some of that burden, so that we take care of these young athletes and don’t expect them to do All alone. “

At UC Berkeley, Chow launched a mental health literacy and de-stigma program for all student-athletes and staff at UC Berkeley, based on research he directed as an assistant professor of sports psychology at Florida State University.

“We know that stigma is the biggest barrier to seeking help, but little has been done with athletes in terms of anti-stigma programs,” he said. “And so, I’m really excited that we’re pioneering at UC Berkeley.”

Pressure to be # 1

The four-session program got off to a slow start due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is sure to pick up the pace in the spring when it moves to an in-person program. This is especially relevant to UC Berkeley student-athletes, Chow said.

“They are at the country’s No.1 public university and are trying to compete at a high level. But they also have personal lives, and trying to balance those things is difficult, ”said Chow, who works one-on-one with student-athletes at Berkeley, as well as professional athletes, in his practice. private.

Among other strategies, Chow uses empathy exercises to put athletes and their masters in the shoes of their peers who have had mental health issues. Empathy, Chow found, is one of the most effective ways to get athletes to normalize a stigmatized group or condition, reflect on their own challenges, and, if necessary, seek treatment.

It also uses the intrinsic competitiveness of athletes to motivate them to step up their self-care regimen, get eight hours of sleep at night, and take restorative breaks throughout the day. As for the models, he talks about famous athletes who take their personal care very seriously.

“LeBron James spends over a million dollars each year on restoration techniques,” he said. “Michael Phelps uses the Ferrari analogy. If you drive hard all day you may need to park this Ferrari and let it sit, let it cool, make sure you refuel it with 91 unleaded, not 87. “

Track and field sprinter Cal Ezinne Abba (Photo by Kelley Cox / KLC Fotos)

Ezinne Abba, Cal Track and Field sprinter and graduate in Molecular and Cellular Biology, has handled the pressures of competitive athletics and academics, through a diverse support network. But she has also seen fellow student-athletes drained of mental and physical energy and give up under the pressure.

“Being a student-athlete at UC Berkeley can be emotionally demanding and taxing on your body. It’s just really hard to adapt to the rigors of a demanding training schedule and really tough courses, ”said Abba, who broke a school record last May running 100 meters in 11.30 seconds. “There are still times when I feel like I need to take a day off, when I need a muscle break.”

She attributes much of her success to the camaraderie among peers, the Black Fannie Lou Hamer Resource Center and supportive parents, teachers and coaches who are flexible when the duel demands too much of her time. Coaches, she said, can make or break an athlete’s mind, so it’s important that they empathize.

A burden on black female athletes

Being among the few black students, black women and black athletes in her major sometimes make her feel isolated, she added.

“Sometimes people in my major assume, ‘Oh, you’re an athlete. This is why you are here. It’s like they’re saying, “Are you sure you want to be here? said Abba. “Different people have stereotypes about black women who are athletes, and I feel like they all perceive us to be the same, but they aren’t.”

Global awareness of the mental frailty of elite athletes intensified this summer with Osaka’s sudden withdrawal from Roland Garros and Wimbledon due to mental health concerns. This was further amplified by Biles’ untimely departure from the Tokyo Olympics when she lost her senses in the air due to a perceptual disturbance known as “twisties.”

Their decisions to retire from the crème de la crème of world-class competitions have divided the sports establishment, the media and fans in general. While some sympathized with their struggles, others condemned them for failing to fulfill their obligations as highly paid athletes and public figures.

“This polarization highlights the different ways that athletes and people in general face overwhelming pressure,” said Adrian Aguilera, clinical psychologist and welfare professor at UC Berkeley. “At the end of the day, we have to accept the athletes as being human and inherently flawed, and that’s okay.”

UC Berkeley welfare professor Tina Sacks and former NCAA Division 1 tennis player at DePaul University in Chicago applauds Osaka and Biles for publicly sharing their vulnerabilities.

Black female athletes, especially those entering predominantly white sports like tennis and gymnastics, are under more pressure to perform and comply, she noted.

And so, “to be able to say, ‘Look, I’m not going to break my neck if I’m not able to do these feats. I’m not going to risk becoming paralyzed or killing myself for someone else’s pleasure or for that kind of capitalist machine that just eats women’s bodies – and black women’s bodies, in particular ‘- is revolutionary, ”said Sacks.

In the early 1990s, Sacks devoted long hours of training, travel and tournaments to the Blue Demons’ women’s tennis team while maintaining a scholarship-worthy GPA. But the pressures she has faced are pale compared to what today’s athletes endure under the gaze of 24/7 social media and what’s at stake if they speak out, a she declared.

“It takes a level of bravery to do what Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles did, but most athletes can’t afford to be this revolutionary,” said Sacks. “Why isn’t there more Colin Kaepernick?” Because it takes a really amazing person to be able to turn the whole system upside down, and there just aren’t that many people who can do it.

Generation Z more open to change

Stephen Hinshaw, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, a leading expert on the stigma of mental illness, published in 2017 Another kind of madness, an award-winning dissertation on her own family’s struggle with her father’s hidden bipolar disorder.

He noted that competitive athletes are particularly susceptible to anxiety, depression and self-harm, as they are repeatedly told that losing is not an option.

“This ‘sacrifice at all costs’ mentality too often leads to physical and mental exhaustion and a feeling that you are worth nothing unless you are at the top,” Hinshaw said. “Yet in psychology we know that most people thrive when there is intrinsic motivation, rather than being drawn to a nearly impossible set of expectations.”

That said, Hinshaw is optimistic that Gen Z, whose peers and role models include Osaka and Biles, is the key to overcoming the stigma because, compared to previous generations, Gen Z is more comfortable with it. share their vulnerabilities.

“We are on the verge of a radical change, in terms of a greater acceptance by young people of behavioral and emotional differences and a greater emphasis on disclosure and authenticity which can be traced back to older generations. elderly, ”he said.

But that doesn’t mean the problem will go away without intervention, Hinshaw and Chow warned. Hence the need for comprehensive training in mental health literacy, de-stigmatization and well-being practices for all members of the sports hierarchy.

“Superstar athletes like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka may continue to compete despite being withdrawn for mental health reasons, but this privilege is not generally granted to varsity athletes who are beholden to coaches and multiple stakeholders,” did he declare. “That’s why change has to start at the top. Only then will we see a cultural change.