Enhancing Student-Athlete Mental Health in Collegiate Athletics

Nurturing Mental Resilience: Transforming Minds for Wellness

“Raising the Tide of Mental Wellness” by Russ Rausch, director of Behavioral Medicine at the University of Alabama, addresses the issue of high stress, boredom, and repetition that influence Alabama student-athletes on a day-to-day basis. Athletic directors, managers, coaches, and sports overseers also feel immense pressure in the collegiate athletic department. “As stress increases, we see rises in attention deficit, anxiety, depression, and destructive behavior” (Rausch). To get to the bottom of why many student-athletes and administrators go about life negatively, Rausch believes the human brain is the problem. “The mind produces thousands of thoughts a day, and some psychologists suggest they’re in a ratio of eight negative thoughts to every positive thought” (Rausch).

The purpose of “Raising the Tide of Mental Wellness” to student-athletes and faculty members of Alabama is to improve mental health and steer individuals to the right mindset. It can be difficult to immediately change behavior. Impact automatic thought and automatic emotions need to be enforced. Our brain is the most complex organ in the body that produces our thoughts, actions, feelings, memories, and experiences. Poor mental health can impact the one experiencing daily traumatic thoughts but can also impact loved ones.

Enhancing Mental Health for Student-Athletes through Mindfulness and Training

Approaching the issue of mental health, the article aims to implement mental training, meditation, mindfulness, and self-care for those affected at the University. Our brains automatically produce positive and negative emotions. “Student-athletes often struggle with a lot of things; criticism, their responsibilities, studying, and the challenging process” (Rausch). Mental training allows student-athletes to focus on the right expectations and to focus on what they can ultimately control, which is their behavior and reaction.

A few key points from the article include meditation and mindfulness. By consistency of meditating and being aware of the surroundings, the Alabama women’s gymnastics coach, Dana Duckworth, is pleased with her team’s performance. “Many of the gymnasts are finding they are controlling their emotional impulses, and their mental processing is actually changing” (Rausch). The University of Alabama began Vision Pursue, a program started by Athletic Director and NACDA Vive President Greg Byrne to help student-athlete’s mental wellness. “After a few weeks, I was experiencing major benefits. Less stress, more sleep, and increased focus on things I could control rather than things I couldn’t control” (Byrne). Good meditation can improve focus and clarity in thoughts.

Some recommendations that were mentioned are repetitive training, mentally. “We wanted a solution that had a lasting impact” (Rausch). Training is needed for everyone. For example, training to do well in academics takes ongoing studying. Training is needed to perform well. “Raising the Tide of Mental Wellness” seeks to give student-athletes and coaches a number of opportunities to improve overall mental health so they can be better and do better.

References:

1. Rausch, R. Raising the Tide of Mental Wellness. Journal/Source Title.
2. Byrne, G. Title of the article or interview. Source Title.