Only 10% of you are getting the help you need
Feb 10, 2022 1:56 pm
Good morning,
I dove into some unsettling statistics this week and discovered:
- More than 75% of our student-athletes aren't sleeping enough.
- 40-50% suffer some sort of abuse during their career.
- A third are suffering with mental health issues and
- Only 10% of them are seeking help.
Friends ... don't suffer alone. There is so much that can be done. Click the resources below or reply to this e-mail and I'll get you the help you need.
Best wishes,
Dr E
***
Teens Aren't Sleeping Enough
Sleep is a student-athlete's best performance enhancer. Sleeping well is also a protective factor boosting mental health and emotional resiliency. When you donโt sleep, emotional regulation is one of the first things to go.
From 2009 to 2019, the proportion of high school students reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased by 40%; the share seriously considering attempting suicide increased by 36%; and the share creating a suicide plan increased by 44% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). This may be due in part to a lack of sleep.
Recent data by the CDC (State Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, 2019) revealed that only 22.1% of high school teens are getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep or more. This percentage has been in steady decline since 2013.
Juniors and seniors suffer the most at with only 17% getting 8+ hours.
Michigan is one of the most sleep deprived states with only 15.7% - 19.6% of high schoolers getting the recommended rest.
Research consistently shows that sleeping more than 8 hours improves mood; reduces feelings of worthlessness, anxiety and depression; and helps teens better handle stress the next day.
๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ:
- Establish consistent sleep and wake times, and
- Only be in bed for sleeping (that means no phones or laptops in bed late at night; donโt do homework in bed either).
But you have lots of homework, early and late practices or weight lifting sessions, and challenging travel schedules. Quieting the mind and getting more sleep can be difficult.
I can help ...
๐ฅCheck out the โSleep Your Way to the Topโ workshop HERE.
Sleep better tonight so you can play better tomorrow.
***
A Mental Health Crisis
โTo achieve peak performance, it is important to be equally attentive to both physical and mental health โฆ While physical activity is excellent for brain health, sports participation is not entirely protective against mental health challenges.โ
Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash
The American College of Sports Medicine (Aug 9, 2021) continues with this statement on Mental Health Challenges for Athletes. โUniversity and college level student-athletes face pressures from academics, as well as other possible triggers of stress. These triggers include missed classes due to off-campus sports competitions, being away from home for the first time, social isolation from students other than their teammates and adapting to constant visibility within their campus and communities.
โApproximately 30% of women and 25% of men who are student-athletes report having anxiety, and ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ข% ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ.
โProfessional and elite athletes also face mental health challenges, and data indicate that approximately 35% of elite athletes suffer from disordered eating, burnout, depression and/or anxiety. Limited privacy, inadequate recovery time and limited control or independence may also add to the stress of a professional or elite athlete.โ
๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐:
One out of every three athletes suffer a mental health issue. That means 1/3 of your team is struggling, affecting mood and performance.
Yet nine out of ten are not seeking the help they need. That means the majority will continue to unnecessarily struggle throughout the season and academic year.
โก๏ธ Donโt stay stuck. Reply to this e-mail or go here for help.
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
***
SafeSport
Safety in sport is a priority. I am happy to go through this yearly training and adopt best practices to make sport a mentally, physically and emotionally healthy place for youth (and adults).
Links to these resources are below:
https://uscenterforsafesport.org/response-and-resolution/safesport-code/
https://apps.rainn.org/policy/compare/consent-laws.cfm
https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/state/
https://maapp.uscenterforsafesport.org
https://uscenterforsafesport.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SS-Responding-to-Abuse-Flyer-003.pdf
https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/responding/reporting/
***
Dr. Eddie OโConnor
