Keeping watch on student athletes' mental health

Last week, the family of U.S. women’s pursuit team cyclist and 2016 Olympic Games silver medalist Kelly Catlin announced that she had passed away at age 23. The cause of death?

Suicide.

Unfortunately, Catlin’s situation is not unique. British snowboarder Ellie Soutter committed suicide last year, while a 16-year-old competitive athlete at Newport Harbor High School in California killed himself in February 2018. Earlier this year, a former Washington and Lee University student athlete sued the university and one of its counselors for medical malpractice and negligence concerning events leading up to his attempted suicide, and Washington State University quarterback Tyler Hilinski committed suicide in 2017.

According to a recent USA Today column by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association President Scott Sailor, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youths age 10-24, with approximately 4,700 young people dying of suicide annually in the United States.

“Unfortunately, secondary school student athletes are among these statistics,” Sailor wrote. “Athletic trainers, among other sports medicine team members, are on the front lines of this public health problem.”

Suicidal ideation has been on the uptick among young people for the last several years, and there are likely several reasons for it. But given the data, we may be forced to ask whether the standards we hold our students to are partially to blame.

Kids today are often held to extremely high academic standards in a society that frequently devalues military and blue-collar work and unfavorably compares vocational training schools to major universities. The time spent on homework has also increased, with a University of Phoenix College survey finding that high school students spend up to 17.5 hours each week on work outside of class.

Students who play sports have the added burden of their coaches expectations and often fear letting their teams down. And while participation in sports usually includes physical exercise (shown to reduce depression) and important peer bonding, it can also increase the likelihood of hazing, alcohol abuse and violence.

Soutter’s father in particular criticized the pressure placed on young athletes, saying, “Mental health awareness needs to be really looked at and made more public.”

According to the Sports Science Institute, college student athletes are less likely to have suicidal ideation and to make suicide attempts than other students, but “the protective impact of sports varies with the type of sport, sex and ethnicity.”

It’s a painful, uncomfortable topic, but it’s one that is too often swept aside into dark corners and hushed tones.

That leaves a significant portion of young athletes slipping through the cracks; in fact, a 2015 NCAA study determined that suicide represented 7.3 percent of all-cause mortality among NCAA student athletes.

It’s not enough to reach out when someone is struggling. Those who are most in need of help may not show it, so we must constantly work to listen to young people and remind students of their own indelible worth. Mental health must be a priority — in our homes, in our schools and in our locker rooms.

The University of Maryland encourages coaches and parents to be open and honest with students and to take disclosures of depression or anxiety as serious threats. Its counseling center advises against minimizing the situation, arguing with the student about the merits of living or assuming the family knows that the student has suicidal thoughts.

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center offers a handbook to assist coaches in identifying student athletes who may be having difficulties and to help them respond appropriately and effectively.

We have to take advantage of these resources now. It’s a painful, uncomfortable topic, but it’s one that is too often swept aside into dark corners and hushed tones. By increasing our awareness of suicide prevention and incorporating it into our conversations, we can better recognize what actions need to be taken to make suicide among students and young athletes a thing of the past.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at shannen@cheneyfreepress.com.