By CONNOR CHAMPOUX
Contributing Writer
Super star athletes like Simone Biles, Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozen all have been vocal about their mental health and it being so bad they cannot compete. Some may say that these are some of the best athletes on the planet who have everything.
Now, imagine playing in college, having to pay part of or even the entirety of a college tuition, and still be expected to compete at a pretty high level as well as going to class and doing school work. As well as having to work on top of all that. This is sometimes what student athletes face on a daily basis.
Student Athletes are hard working people. These individuals have to balance not only academics, but athletics as well as a social life. The old standby of ‘suck it up and deal with it’ is still prevalent, but not as much anymore. Mental health is a huge topic of conversation in today’s world, and many people are becoming verbal about it.
However, student athletes still feel like they are supposed to have a certain level of toughness and that mental health issues are a sign of weakness.
These students not only balance a full course load and a social life, but a sport and maybe even a job.
Only about one percent of student athletes have a full ride, and with college being the price it is, money can be tight.
The new name, image and likeness, or NIL, rules written by the NCAA only affect the best of the best, and these students still have to work extra hard to get it all done and be a model citizen under a microscope.
Approximately 35 percent of student athletes suffer from some sort of mental health crisis. These can manifest themselves as burn out, stress, anxiety, depression and eating disorders.
This comes from them being under pressure constantly to get things done. Athletes find that playing their sport gives them a break from the things in their life and a channel to get any anger or pent up emotions they have out.
The super hero mentality has also been believed to start when these athletes were children. The feeling like they have to do it all and be successful in their sport has plagued generations of athletes. This causes a higher burnout rate in athletes, and they end up leaving a sport that they once loved.
According to a Harvard study done in 2001, student athletes were found to binge drink between 16-19 percent more than their non athletic counterparts.
Brittney Papa is a mental health advocate and a former college athlete herself. While playing soccer in college, she witnessed first hand the stress and added pressure student athletes face.
According to Papa, you have to be tough to play sports. “It doesn’t matter the sport, you are built from a different cloth than most people.” She said that when she was playing, no one cared about your feelings, and you were expected to give 110 percent everyday.
Papa also said that she suffered from depression once she was done playing college athletics, which has prompted her into advocating and trying to bring awareness to these student athletes.
Brendan Stannard is a freshman at Williams College as well as a member of the baseball team. Being a freshman, he is new to college, but did notice that in his time so far that there are a lot of support systems at his school.
“There is added stress. You have to learn how to balance things and not be afraid to reach out for help when you need it. Hopefully every student athlete can find someone to help them get through everything,” Brendan said about his college experience thus far.
In response to the old standby of ‘suck it up and deal with it,’ Stannard stated that he feels that it is still prevalent, but not as much anymore. “People are talking about this now, and that’s great.
This is a group of people that need to be looked at as humans.”
Kaylie Klemme is a member of the women’s golf team at Saint Rose. When asked about her course load, she said, “Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with everything, school work, practice, traveling, and still trying to find time to rest and enjoy college.”
Klemme stated that she does deal with anxiety and is thankful she has a good support system of friends and family that help her through it.
A concerning thing she mentioned was that when she was first dealing with anxiety, she reached out to the counseling office, but she felt like they did not help.
One of the reasons she chose Saint Rose was because of the financial help they gave her to come here and play golf. With no determination to try and play professionally, she liked the idea of competing at a high level and getting an education on top of that.
When asked about feeling the need to be a superhero, she said, “Not entirely. I know that I’m good enough to perform, and when I don’t perform at that level I’m extremely disappointed,” adding onto that the need for coaches to try and understand what kind of stress and pressure these athletes face.
Other students around campus did mention that they felt the Counseling Center wasn’t always the best resource to go to if you had a problem. The counseling center did not respond to a request for comment.
While all student athletes do not suffer from mental health issues, there is a large portion of them that do. With almost four out of ten student athletes having some sort of mental health crisis, that is a problem.
They are also highly susceptible to alcoholism and drug use to combat these issues. Athletes tend to have a strong association to their sport and an athlete mentality. Growing up, it is a huge part of your identity and what you do.
With fewer than two percent of college athletes actually playing professionally after college, almost 98 percent of college athletes end up not continuing their athletic career after graduating.
This can lead to some issues mentally and other issues such as drug and alcohol abuse to cope with that part of your identity missing.
