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The Importance of Mental Health in Athletes
Being an athlete is oftentimes associated with strength, resilience, and peak physical performance. We celebrate championship titles, game-winning shots, and record-breaking performances, but behind the trophies and highlights are people navigating immense levels of pressure. Athletic success does not only require physical training, but also strong mental training as well. Mental wellness is a big part of peak performance, and it is important that we treat it that way.
The Unique Pressures Athletes Face
Athletes face intense pressure that extends beyond the game itself. Whether they are competing at a youth, collegiate, or professional level, they often deal with fear of failure, performance anxiety, overcoming injuries, social media criticism, and burnout. Many athletes also face identity challenges that come with transitioning out of a sport, as well as the difficulty of balancing athletics with academics and personal life. Expectations from coaches, teammates, fans, sponsors, and even family members can also create a constant demand for peak performance.
There have been a number of elite competitors, such as Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, who have stepped away completely from competition to prioritize their overall mental well-being. To many people, this may have come as a shock and might also have been disappointing. However, as a therapist who specializes in athletes, this was a reminder that mental strain can affect even the most decorated champions. No level of talent makes someone immune to mental illness.
Why Mental Health is Performance Health
For decades, sports culture emphasized toughness by “pushing through the pain” or “fighting harder” as a way to escape any signs of weakness. Today, research and lived experience show the opposite: mental wellness is foundational to elite performance. Decision-making, confidence, ability to focus, and reaction time are all deeply tied to psychological well-being. Physical ability alone cannot compensate for any psychological challenges an athlete may be struggling with.
This is why larger organizations, such as the National Basketball Association and the National Football League, have expanded access to mental health professionals, providing athletes with confidential counseling and support services. Athletes who prioritize mental wellness often perform more consistently under pressure. Techniques such as mindfulness, visualization, and psychological skills training are increasingly used in sports to enhance focus and emotional resilience. This shift in mental health care access recognizes that peak performance requires holistic care in both mind and body.
Breaking the Stigma Around Mental Health in Sports
One of the biggest barriers to addressing mental health in athletics is stigma. Sports culture, especially at the professional level, has traditionally emphasized resilience and toughness, often discouraging athletes from openly discussing emotional struggles. This mindset can make athletes feel as though admitting they need help is a sign of weakness, when in reality it is a normal and important part of maintaining overall well-being.
By encouraging open conversations about mental health, coaches, teams, and organizations can help normalize these experiences and make it easier for athletes to seek support when they need it. When athletes feel safe discussing their mental health, they are more likely to access resources, build healthier coping strategies, and maintain a balanced perspective on competition. Ultimately, breaking this stigma not only supports athletes as individuals, but also strengthens teams by fostering trust, resilience, and long-term success both in and out of sport.
My Experience as a Youth Athlete
As a youth athlete, I experienced firsthand how sports can affect mental health. While competing and training were exciting and rewarding most times, they also came with pressure to perform well, improve constantly, and meet expectations from coaches, teammates, and myself. There were moments when the stress of competition, balancing school responsibilities, having a social life, and maintaining confidence after mistakes felt overwhelming and at times all-consuming. These experiences helped me realize that mental strength is not just about pushing through challenges. It involves recognizing stress, seeking support, and maintaining a healthy perspective on competition.While I wish I could say this happened overnight for me, it took my own battles with mental illness and working with a therapist to better understand how important it is to prioritize mental well-being as an athlete. This is what encouraged and inspired me to seek out helping athletes professionally.
Find Support at Northside Mental Health
By fostering open dialogue, reducing stigma, and providing appropriate support systems, the athletic community can create an environment where athletes are empowered to care for both their bodies and their minds. Ultimately, the strongest athletes are not just those who train the hardest, but those who recognize that true performance and long-term success depend on mental health as much as physical ability.
If you are currently an athlete and could use extra support, I would love to support you on your journey. My name is Lucy Campbell Morrison, and I am an LMHCA who specializes in athletic counseling where I focus on addressing the number of pressures athletes at all levels can face. This is a journey that you do not have to navigate alone. Mental and physical health are equally important and deeply interconnected, rather than one being inherently superior. Email me directly at lucy@northsidementalhealth.com for scheduling.
by Lauren Harding, Eating Recovery Coach and Counseling Intern
The holiday season can bring a significant amount of joy; however, it also presents its fair share of challenges. There is an expectation that the next few months are the best time of the year, which can be especially daunting for those who struggle with mental health issues.
For individuals who struggle with eating disorders or disordered eating, the holidays pose unique difficulties. Between the strong emphasis on food, diet talk, and that uncle who comments on your weight each year, the holiday season may be something that you are dreading. The “busy-ness” of this time of year, lack of routine, social experiences, and painful memories can further exacerbate disordered eating, anxiety, or depressive symptoms.
By Lauren Harding, Eating Recovery Coach
Often in eating disorder treatment, the eating disorder is interpreted as some outside entity, external from the individual struggling with an eating disorder. I view the eating disorder self a little bit differently. An old Cherokee Indian legend illustrates the most important battle of our lives between the good wolf and bad wolf inside of us. The wolf that ultimately wins is the one that we choose to feed. YOU are the one who has the power to either strengthen the eating disorder self or to defeat the eating disorder self, because the eating disorder is a part of YOU. You were born with a healthy core self that has been taken over by the eating disorder self over time. Clients typically describe the eating disorder self as a “monster that takes over” or the “demon inside of them”, I refer to the eating disorder self as ED- the abusive partner. The abusive partner, although toxic provides, a sense of stability for you. It promises a better future if you listen to it. It lures you in but continues to hurt you, while telling you that it will get better if you just stay. The longer you stay with an abusive partner, the stronger the abusive partner becomes. And ultimately, it is you that has the power to say goodbye to that abusive partner inside of you.
By Lauren Harding, Recovery Coach
Disordered eating is NOT “less serious” than an eating disorder. And BOTH are deserving of support and treatment. Eating disorders are a pattern of behavioral, physical and psychological signs and symptoms that fit into the specific criteria outlined by the DSM. Disordered eating is a pattern of behavioral, physical and psychological signs and symptoms that do not clearly fit into a diagnosis outlined in the DSM. Disordered eating may be harder to detect due to a society that is obsessed with the pursuit of “wellness” and that celebrates disordered eating behaviors.
By Lauren Harding, Recovery Coach
Warmer weather and the coming of summer often exacerbate worries about food and our bodies. This is especially challenging for those who are struggling with an eating disorder or who are in recovery. For many of these individuals wearing more revealing clothing such as shorts, sleeveless tops, or swimming suits can be a source of anxiety. Avoidance tends to be the initial response when approaching summer. Unfortunately, advertisers don’t recognize the impact terms like the “summer body” can have on someone’s perception of themselves.
By Lauren Harding, Eating Recovery Coach
The Facts
Dieting is linked to disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Research shows that girls who diet are seven to eight times more likely to develop an eating disorder compared to those who do not diet. Furthermore, cross-cultural studies reveal an increase in eating disorders with an increase of urbanization. In Fiji, before television, dieting did not exist and there were no eating disorders. After television was introduced, Fijian women were for the first-time dieting, reportedly, as a way to “gain status”. Within 3 years 11% of these women reported vomiting in order to lose weight. “Without our cultural preoccupation with dieting, there would be no epidemic of eating disorders” (Gordon, 2000). An estimated 45 million Americans go on a diet each year, and Americans spend $33 billion each year on weight loss products. In 2017 the US dieting industry alone was worth $68.2 billion dollars. Yet, nearly two-thirds of Americans are classified as “obese”. With the increase of western civilization and dieting, there is also an increase of “obesity” and of eating disorders.
Written by Lauren Harding
Eating Disorders- about the food or not about the food?
Eating disorders are both about the food and not about the food.
Written by Lauren Harding
Exercise can be a difficult thing to navigate during eating disorder recovery. I often find that clients struggle to differentiate between whether they are truly exercising for enjoyment or if they are exercising with eating disorder motives. There are a few ways to first identify if you have a dysfunctional relationship with exercise, and several steps to take in order to find balance and make peace with it once more.
Thanksgiving is of course a day where we practice gratitude. But, for those healing from an eating disorder, gratitude is a powerful tool for sustained recovery best practiced every day. Eating disorder behavior and thoughts often create a false sense of reality that steers us away from important, worthwhile aspects of our lives and personal identity. Expressing gratitude intentionally for the non-eating disorder components of our lives reminds us that we are and will continue to be more than just our eating disorders. Here are 4 ways to increase your expression of recovery gratitude:
Written by Kristin Wedding
We all feel stressed at times. You’ve been meaning to find a way to manage your overall stress levels. You’re going to start a meditation practice…soon. Or, you plan to make physical activity a more regular part of your busy schedule. But, what can you do when you’re running late for work, your kid spills juice on you, and then you get stuck in traffic? Here are 5 tips that can help you decrease stress in the moment.
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