Mental Health as a Student Athlete

On March 3rd, 2022, Katie Meyer a D1 athlete, a Stanford soccer goalkeeper, was taken from this world by suicide. When I heard this news, I was heartbroken. To be completely transparent, I had similar thoughts about doing this, but I made sure to get help, and I feel way better. Dear Katie, I am sorry and wish it never got to this point. I wish people told you that you were great and the best, and whatever was going on, you would get past it. I am truly sorry. 

Sadly, This was not the only death by suicide of a student-athlete this year. This is mainly because athletes may struggle to be the best and don’t want to fail. That can take a huge toll on someone’s frame of mind. 

Division 1, 2 and 3 sports are very hard on athletes’ mentality, with the stress of winning, being a great athlete, keeping your scholarships, keeping good grades and having a social life. In an interview of Katie’s parents, they said they never noticed any red flags. Athletes are afraid to tell their parents because they don’t want to disappoint their parents; they only want to make them proud.

With that being said, there is a lot of anxiety and stress to be the BEST; as a student-athlete, your schedule is always full. Mental health is essential. If you are not happy, then you cannot perform well. No one understands how hard it is to balance everything, to even eat. You go from practice to class, back to practice back to class, thinking there is not enough time in a day to get everything done.

As a student-athlete, there are many solutions on how to work with things like meditating and taking calm breaths, and if it is really bad, talk to someone; a psychiatrist, a therapist, even your best friend. To have a healthy and happy life, you need to make sure to stay organized and make sure to have a healthy diet. 

Here are some food items that you should have in your diet:

• Fruits (bananas have potassium, apples have fiber and antioxidants, oranges for vitamin c) 
• Vitamins and Iron!
• Vegetables (peas, spinach, broccoli) 
• Meat for Protein (chicken, beef, pork, and lamb)

As a student-athlete, you also have to make sure that you stay organized. It is a very important tool to make sure that you get everything done. 

I also believe that the NCAA should have ways to help, especially psychiatrists at universities, to take time to give them the ability to have someone to understand what they are going through to provide them with solutions and ways to help. 

I run Track and Field at Hampton University, this sport is mental and physical, but the sport is 80% mental. Therefore, to have a great race, you need to be in the right mindset. You have to have positive reinforcement and enjoy the moment. If you have doubts, you will most likely have a bad race. To be completely honest, I struggle with positive affirmations but as I keep practicing doing it more I have noticed that my times are better. 

For parents and coaches of athletes, please make sure that you check up on your children/athletes as they could be hiding their real pain because they don’t want to be a disappointment. I want to finish off by telling student-athletes to not be afraid to tell people how you’re feeling and YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I know it is hard being a student-athlete, but it always gets better. As for athletes on scholarship who can’t quit, four years will be over. Before you know it, it’ll be over. Stay strong and keep pushing, you are doing great and it’s only up from here! 

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• student athlete
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