Mental health in elite sport: the issues
Everybody has mental health which, like physical health, can change throughout
our lives. One in four people in the UK will be affected by mental illness in any
year, the most common being depression and anxiety. So it should come as no
surprise that professional sportspeople will face these issues too.
Following the increasing number of high profile sportspeople who have spoken
out about struggles with their own mental health, and some tragic suicides, Mind
commissioned research to explore how sports’ governing bodies and players’
organisations currently respond to, manage and prevent mental ill health amongst
athletes, and to identify successful programmes which can be shared with other
sports.
The experiences of Frank Bruno, Dame Kelly Holmes and Marcus Trescothick
show that mental health is relevant to everyone in sport, even at the elite level. In
voicing their opinions they are tackling stigma in wider society. But where these
experiences remain hidden, it perpetuates the stigma and prevents others from
speaking out.
It is a rollercoaster emotionally. The threat of leaving
the game is constant – will I get to the next stage? Will
I be dropped? Will I get a contract or be released?
What happens if I get injured? What
happens when I retire?