By Aubrey Rae Tipton, Staff Writer

Student athletes must balance not only schoolwork but also representing their school in athletics. However, balancing school and athletics can come with a heavy toll, not only on the body but on the mind.

During an athlete’s athletic season, they may face more stress or fatigue due to a busy schedule, which can eventually take a heavy toll on the athlete’s mental health. A survey was anonymously conducted with collegiate student-athletes at UMHB Sept. 4-18, which 19 athletes filled out about their mental health during their athletic season.

The average athlete said their mental health was either average to excellent during the season; however, some athletes did not agree. 

Many athletes felt average or high pressure throughout their season to perform well and/or felt high stress. They also felt either emotionally or mentally exhausted, with some athletes feeling strain on their sleep as well.

The athletes had also shown that they were not very comfortable talking to their coach about their mental health, showing they were more likely to talk to a teammate. The Yale study “The Unseen Struggles of Being a Student Athlete” by Meredith Hutchinson, Steven, Johnson, Hagans, Schaefeg did research on D1 student athletes mental health. This study showed how one athlete was not comfortable talking to his coach because his coach would just tell him how much of a blessing it is to be playing at the Division I level. Many students also believe that the coach is affecting their mental health as well.

In the survey, when asked about what factors are affecting their mental health the most, UMHB athletes said performance expectations, time management, coaching and academics. 

The last question of the survey asked what the student-athletes think the school can do better for their mental health; they came up with multiple answers.  Helpful changes some athletes suggested were removing exercise credits, adding mental health check-ins, having more accessible tutoring options, providing a sports psychologist to speak to, building a supportive team environment and teaching coaches signs of burnout and struggle.

With this in mind, it is important for everyone to know that UMHB has free counseling services for currently enrolled students available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day Monday through Friday located on the third floor of the Maybee Student Success Center. 

UMHB Counseling Services 254-295-4696

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 988 (Available 24/7)

Police and Fire Department 911(Available 24/7)

Photo Courtesy of Emma Simpson/ Unsplash