By Cameron Bonner and Vincent Lombardi
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
The suicide rate within the United States has grown significantly over the past 20 years. This has been true with student-athletes who have been dealing with mental health issues for a long time, but now it has increased immensely. According to a study done by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, in this study it proved that suicide rates have doubled from 7.6% to 15.3% over the past two decades. There has always been pressure on athletes to perform in their sport, but in today’s age, there has been increasing pressure on athletes due to NIL deals and creating their brands. Multiple student-athletes have gone through depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse. The NCAA and state governments both have initiatives that are placing mental health issues at the forefront.
According to U.S. News, male student athletes’ suicides increased from 31 to 67 within the last two decades, and women from nine to 21. These numbers indicated the seriousness of the issues and why there is an upcoming system in place to decrease the suicide rate.
The NCAA’s response to the recent suicide spikes was to create a program that introduced recommendations called “Mental Health Best Practices,” which promotes mental health for student-athletes and prepares teams on the issue. Senators John Boozman(R) and Cory Booker(D) worked together and are introducing a new legislation called Targeting Emotional and Mental Stability Act (TEAMS). This grant is an initiative that supports the mental health needs of student-athletes. It will create mental health care services, peer-to-peer counseling, a 24/7 crisis line, and other programs helping student-athletes. These are great initiatives to decrease suicide rates among college athletes and improve mental health knowledge. Where some might say why one of these initiatives can fail is with Mental Health Best Practices. They only recommend things these colleges should do or resources they have, but they are not making any type of programs, for instance, like the TEAMS Act is doing.
While the background of mental health issues is vastly important, so is the data that comes with it. The NCAA Student-Athlete and Wellness Study was done in 2023, where 23,272 student-athletes participated. The study revealed that 47% of women college athletes do not feel comfortable talking to their coaches. This is important because it shows that the players cannot be vulnerable to their coach; it is as if they see their coaches as someone who would not be receptive and feel as if they are a burden to the coach and even the team.
Julia Slivka, a member of Radford University’s 2024 volleyball team, has talked about her comfortability and the pressures of being a Division I college volleyball player.
“There is pressure every day to perform. If you don’t perform every day, you can lose your spot. This causes people to overstress and overthink. They also compare themselves to everyone else,” Slivka says. “It is difficult to do little things like find time to eat because you’re between classes, practice, and weightlifting. Little things like that can affect your life and cause you stress.”
Another thing to mention is that 67% of women said that they would like it if their coaches and the administration of the school spoke more about mental health; this statistic highlights how women are not comfortable talking about other mental health issues because of the lack thereof from the coaches. If coaches start doing more to help women student-athletes, then they can be one of the leading causes of ending some of the mental health issues collegiate athletes face.
However, not feeling comfortable talking to coaches and staff is not exclusive to females. Male student-athletes cannot be overlooked, as there are multiple student-athletes who struggle with the same problems. Ryan Saunders plays football and is a college athlete who attends Frostburg State University. He talks about how it is sometimes difficult to deal with his mental health.
“I don’t feel comfortable talking to my coach because I feel like they would judge me for going through my depression or anxiety,” says Saunders. “A lot of older people tend not to care about mental health issues because they feel like it is a cop-out.”
A common theme identified in solutions is to bring awareness to this problem. It is important to educate everyone on mental health and suicide prevention, but not many people are aware that athletes have similar issues because they are often put on a pedestal.
Brianna Smith, a physician assistant located in Houston, Texas, believes that it is important not only to educate athletes and coaches, but everyone who is in the athlete’s life such as friends, family members, teachers, and more. She believes that people need to erase the stigma that athletes are invulnerable.
“We need to take the stigma away from it. There is a stigma around them that they need to be tough and not want to admit when they are struggling,” Smith says. “This is the patient population that might not seek help. This is a thing, and it is a common thing. A lot of people struggle with this, and I think bringing more awareness to this and getting rid of the stigma would help lower the suicide rate because it lets the athletes know they aren’t alone.”
Isaiah Perkins plays football at Towson University. He spoke from a college athlete’s perspective of what the NCAA needs to do to help solve the problem. He believes that while the NCAA has taken steps to solve the problem, there is still the issue of being able to get athletes to use the given resources.
“We should have a safe place to talk about our problems as student-athletes,” says Perkins. “I do believe the NCAA is doing something, but I don’t think they are pushing the issue like they would on other things like NIL.”
While mental health across the United States is becoming more talked about, it is essential to understand that athletes are just like everyone else. They are not invulnerable, and they go through the same issues that other people go through. They are put under a microscope and are held to standards that other people are not held to. With this said, this situation needs more attention, and educating more people can help stop this problem.