Being a student-athlete is no easy task. The pressure to “do it all” – excel at sports, in school and in popularity – can leave many feeling overwhelmed and anxious, and can exacerbate problems in those who are vulnerable to mental health issues.

While student-athletes are prone to seeking help for physical injuries – a sprained ankle, a broken leg – the opposite occurs when it comes to their emotional well-being. Stigma, confusion and lack of knowledge of available resources prevent many from speaking openly about mood disorders like depression and anxiety.

When the injuries aren’t physical, where can student-athletes find the help they need? How can they find the tools to be healthy mentally as well as physically?

One strategy available to athletics programs is to partner with campus counseling centers to offer CollegeResponse, an educational screening program offered by nonprofit Screening for Mental Health. CollegeResponse educates the college community about symptoms and effective treatments for common mental health disorders, offering student-athletes the opportunity to be screened for depression, anxiety, eating disorders and alcohol problems. Through in-person and online programming, CollegeResponse aims to raise awareness, reduce stigma and – most importantly – refer students most in need to appropriate resources, either on or off campus.

By partnering with the campus centers, athletics programs can develop collegial relations with counseling services, and let student-athletes know that help is available whenever they might need it.

“Student-athletes have additional stresses above and beyond the usual academic demands of college. They have to deal with the athletic demands of many hours of practice and the stress of traveling to various competitions. They may need additional support to learn ways to deal with these stresses,” said Wayne Hurr, staff psychologist and sport psychology consultant at the Georgetown University Counseling Center.

Hurr consults with Georgetown athletics department coaches, teams and individual student-athletes on such issues as stress management, performance anxiety, depression, eating disorders, dealing with injury, team cohesiveness, and enhancing focus and concentration in the classroom and on the athletic field. He also consults with coaches about how to identify students in distress and make referrals to the counseling center

He agrees that screenings are a good way of identifying student-athletes who might benefit from referral to the counseling center.

By screening through brief self-tests for mental health and alcohol problems, both in-person and online, CollegeResponse promotes early detection among the student-athlete population.  If the screenings suggest a likelihood of one or more disorders, students are referred for further evaluation.  Once students are aware that they have access to free, anonymous screenings, they are more likely to seek treatment for themselves and recommend these resources to their friends.

A counseling administrator at an Illinois college believes the CollegeResponse program can help students at any college or university, because it allows them to gather information and understand what services are available.

“The screening offers students the opportunity to discuss the issues and feelings they are dealing with in a non-threatening manner,” said Nancy Partch, coordinator of counseling and student assessment at Kishwaukee College.  “Many students are dealing with difficult situations that can be alleviated if they pursue appropriate help.”

Various NCAA member institutions are addressing mental health needs of student-athletes through collaboration between counseling centers and athletics departments:

• The Counseling Center at Missouri-Kansas City is developing a Student-Athlete Mentor program (SAM), in which each sport team nominates two team members for training in early intervention with teammates and referral for any type of concern. 
• The Florida Atlantic Counseling Center offers a sport-performance training program for the athletics department. This fall, it will be presenting “Managing Athletes’ Stress, Personal and Performance Issues,” based on NCAA health and safety recommendations for coaches and other athletics staff. The focus is on alerting coaches, athletic trainers and administrators to the increasing demand of the current generation for counseling intervention, and how it affects athletes and their performance.  
• The Counseling Center at Framingham State has a counselor available in the athletics office and gym on a regular basis, and has developed a strong relationship with the director of athletics, who often will refer students he identifies as being in need of help.
• Harvard has a special support and education program that serves student-athletes and offers a variety of services, such as academic consultation/counseling, personal consultation/counseling and sport psychology.

Ariela Edelson is a communications associate at Screening for Mental Health. Institutions interested in registering for CollegeResponse or obtaining more information can call 781/239-0071, or click here.