Blog Post- Female College Athletes
In America, female college athletes find themselves prone to mental illness and are supported by very few resources and coaches that are not willing to nurture mental health. Growing up in athletics, female athletes are taught to fight through physical and mental pain, and that any feelings of anxiety or depression are considered a weakness. The root of this problem is caused by coaches’ unwillingness to take mental health seriously or provide athlete with counseling or other resources. In a 2020 poll created by the NCAA, 38% of female athletes reported feeling mentally exhausted every single day. The same poll also noted that only 50% of college female athletes said that their coaches took mental health seriously. Another issue with mental health in female athletics is that female athletics are underfunded and are not represented in the media. If three college football players were to suffer fatal injuries in one year as a result of improper equipment, the media would instantly cover the issue, and large amounts of money, research, and resources would immediately be utilized.
Poor mental health not only influences an athletes’ ability to perform, but in serious cases can result in self-harm or suicide. In 2022 alone, three female college athletes took their own lives as a result of severe depression and anxiety. These athletes were stars on the field and leaders off the field. Their deaths came as a surprise to most because they did not appear to be outwardly struggling. Female athletes are trained to suppress emotions and suppress pain, so it is of no surprise that these women did not show their struggles on the outside. Within my own experience on the BSC softball team, the old coaches told us “if you are worried about anything outside of softball, you need to get over it and grow up.” We were constantly told that mental health should not be a concern because you just need to learn to deal with it. We were never given resources to help deal with our mental struggles, and if you were to tell the coaches, they would likely shame you for not being tough, or told to grow up.
A lot of people from older generations have stigmatized mental health, and do not take it as seriously as younger generations tend to. A lot of coaches see mental health as an excuse to get out of practice, or that an athlete is being dramatic. American society has also created a stereotype that women are dramatic, so male coaches are less likely to take a mental health concern seriously. Other groups of people believe that if an athlete has anxiety or depression caused by a sport, then they should just quit and are not tough enough to be a college athlete. This view is toxic by casting shame on the athlete and invalidating their feelings. Another view on the issue is that it is not a serious matter and that it is not that prevalent. Although the majority of athletes do not struggle with serious mental illness, the fact that student athletes are driven to suicide means that this issue should be on the forefront of everyone’s minds. The NCAA should stop at nothing to adequately train coaches, staff, and players on how to correctly treat mental health concerns.
An important first step is to destigmatize mental illness and encourage teammates and coaches to talk about their mental status with one another. It is so important to tell female athletes that there is no shame in anxiety or depression and that it is harmful to “rub some dirt on it” when it comes to mental health. The NCAA should require the budgeting of counselors and mental health training resources for all teams. Since female athletics often do not have large budgets, the NCAA should allow for grants to be used for mental health. I think that the most important step to solving the issue is to stop teaching young girls that their feelings are not valid and that they need to toughen up. Coaches need to be held accountable for being dismissive, and colleges need to ensure the coaches they hire will prioritize mental health.