ATHLETE MENTAL HEALTH

According to the NCAA Student-Athlete Well-Being Study (2022), Student-athletes continue to report elevated levels of mental health concerns, with rates of mental exhaustion, anxiety, and depression remaining 1.5 to two times higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Athletes have unique challenges to face that their counterparts may not experience, or at least not in the same way. Many of the athletes treated through Focus are high achieving and perfectionistic in nature. Maybe not a perfectionist in all areas of life, but definitely many aspects. Athletes have to learn how to balance their school, practices, studying, games, training, and social time. It can be very overwhelming and lead to burnout, especially with the rise in availability to take on more and more.

Perfectionism in athletes can be an amazing quality that drives hard work, persistence, & attention to detail; however that same personality also makes them more prone to set high and rigid expectations, feel intense pressure to be perfect, & struggle with the feeling that it’s never good enough.

There are times when athletes need more than Performance Coaching to get back on track—not just for their performance but for all areas of their lives. Mental health doesn’t bypass athletes; in fact they can be more vulnerable due to their high achieving personalities.