The New York Times published a great piece yesterday on mental health and athletics. The article, “With No One Looking, a Hurt Stays Hidden”, contrasts the obvious nature of physical injuries for athletes with the more hidden nature, and stigma, surrounding mental health issues in the world of sports. Mental health issues for athletes are too often hidden away and masked from view, despite the incredible toll they can take.
Giving mental health issues more open discussion and publicity is one of the first steps to starting to try to address the problem in a more significant way. As this article points out, concussions and traumatic brain injuries in sport have gained growing attention and media coverage. However, we need to make sure that mental health issues can get similar recognition so that we can help reduce the stigma attached to it amongst athletes and encourage getting help, rather than hiding.
You can read the whole New York Times article here.