Getting Real About Depression: Four Athletes Discuss Pressures, Identity, & Purpose

12/10/20 • 64 min

A deep dive into the raw feelings of what it is to be an athlete struggling with mental health, what it takes to reach out for help, and what actually works for athletes. Four athletes discuss the internal pressures they faced struggling through mental health challenges - the loss of drive, the guilt, the isolation, the comparisons. Having experienced injuries that led to a medically-forced exit from sport, each of our guests know all too well the struggles associated with being separated from their sport due to circumstances outside their control . Injured athletes and pandemic-sidelined athletes alike will find this honest conversation especially empowering. This episode is a special one to us at Sidelined. Whether you are an athlete, coach, athletic trainer, or parent, THIS CONVERSATION is what you need to know about mental health right now as it relates to athletes currently blocked off from their athletic goals. There is tremendous power in getting the conversation started. Dive in with us! And SHARE with your teams!
Show Notes:
(2:30) Guest intros
(4:45) "Rapid Fire Q&A"
(7:05) The athlete experience with mental health

The hidden struggle
The complications of the perfectionist mentality
Isolation and apathy
“Fake it 'til you make it”
Comparisons, beating yourself up, & permission to be vulnerable
When mental health struggles fall on people you would never guess

(24:56) Athletes finding mental health support

Taking the first step to seeking help
What actually works for athletes?
Finding someone to talk to
Permission to feel
Identifying your triggers
Expanding your identity beyond sports
The role of social media
Figuring out where your “safe spaces” are
What if a particular therapy/strategy doesn’t work for you?
When your feelings don’t match up with where you want them to be
The power of professional help
When you feel “stuck”

(47:12) Feeling like you’re struggling more than others with the impact of COVID on sports

The power of vulnerability
The significance of identifying your support system
The power when *coaches* are vulnerable

(52:38) Advice athletes would give their younger selves

What does advocating for yourself look like?
How understanding your worth beyond athletics transforms everything
The human factor that coaches should remember
Why finding a therapist isn’t something to put off
Building other coping skills besides sports
Giving yourself some credit

(1:02:15) Where to go from here? Resources for athletes ready to take the next step in their mental health journey

The hidden struggle
The complications of the perfectionist mentality
Isolation and apathy
“Fake it 'til you make it”
Comparisons, beating yourself up, & permission to be vulnerable
When mental health struggles fall on people you would never guess

(24:56) Athletes finding mental health support

Taking the first step to seeking help
What actually works for athletes?
Finding someone to talk to
Permission to feel
Identifying your triggers
Expanding your identity beyond sports
The role of social media
Figuring out where your “safe spaces” are
What if a particular therapy/strategy doesn’t work for you?
When your feelings don’t match up with where you want them to be
The power of professional help
When you feel “stuck”

(47:12) Feeling like you’re struggling more than others with the impact of COVID on sports

The power of vulnerability
The significance of identifying your support system
The power when *coaches* are vulnerable

(52:38) Advice athletes would give their younger selves

What does advocating for yourself look like?
How understanding your worth beyond athletics transforms everything
The human factor that coaches should remember
Why finding a therapist isn’t something to put off
Building other coping skills besides sports
Giving yourself some credit

(1:02:15) Where to go from here? Resources for athletes ready to take the next step in their mental health journey

Previous Episode

Managing Negative & Self-Defeating Thoughts

To be an athlete eager to get back to a regular competition season is to be an athlete dealing with discouragement & frustration. It’s not so simple to “just be positive" right now. Fighting doubts, fears, & discouragements can be fatiguing with no real assurances about a return to normalcy. So how can we deal with our emotions and center our thoughts in the here & now? Starting us off is Matt Brown, Mental Performance Coach for the Calgary Flames, discussing strategies to build mental vigilance and manage control of thoughts & emotions during this period of COVID’s disruption on life & sport. Learn what unhelpful thought patterns may be holding us back from true forward progress and explore strategies to transform our thoughts & attention. The second half of this episode features mentor athlete and former Green Bay Running Back, Johnathan Franklin who tackles the topic from his own perspective as an athlete whose football career was sidelined due to injury. Be inspired by Johnathan’s reflections on “permission to feel”, how “choice” can dictate our habits, finding the “opportunities”, & the transformative power of replacing the lies we can believe about ourselves with truth.

Next Episode

Bonus Track -- When the Pandemic Ends Your Athletic Career: Perspective From Four Athletes Who Get It

When an athlete's athletic career is cut short due to circumstances outside their control, we understand just how brutal this can be. All that grinding coming to a halt without the satisfaction of the "natural" sport retirement that you've worked so hard for and rightfully earned-- we get it. There's an "emptiness" that accompanies unfinished business when you're facing a closed door like that with so much more to offer. The good news is, you aren't alone and we have some athletes who can share a bit of their own experience with you. In this bonus track recording, our (Episode 3) guests answer the question, "How did you find a meaningful way forward after your athletic career was cut short?" You're going to be encouraged by their answers!