Lit Review Draft

Mental health in college sports has gathered increasing attention in recent years, with growing recognition of the unique stressors and challenges faced by student-athletes. The emergence of online platforms as a space for discourse presents an opportunity to examine how mental health issues within this context are portrayed, discussed, and perceived. Throughout this lit review, I will discuss what we already know about stress causing mental health issues within the world of sports. Then I will deep dive into the stigma surrounding mental health in sports and discuss why it needs to be broken. Lastly, I will provide information about the Instagram account I wish to analyze and why my work needs to be done. 
 
Stress in College Athletics
When we look at mental health within college sports, information regarding their intense amount of stress is prevalent. College is a stressful time in general. Most students often struggle to navigate their way through a new environment. It has been proven that college students perceive their causes of academic stress in four categories: perceptions of workload, pressure to perform, academic self-perceptions, and time restrictions (Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015). This holds true for all college students, athletes or not. Add in the additional stressors that college athletes endure on top of those, and we can understand the reasoning behind their mental decline. “Stress caused by academic pressures exists among nearly all college students, but student-athletes’ stress levels are compounded by their athletic expectations, time commitments, and heavy travel schedules” (Jill w. Lassiter, Amanda L Campbell, Carrie W LeCrom, Brendan Dwyer, 2022). Athletes are required to juggle not only the demands of a newly adapted college lifestyle but also those of a professional athlete as well. They are expected to put forth an extensive amount of effort into practices every day, maintain an adequate GPA, and adapt to a new living situation, all while dealing with a heavy travel schedule. Furthermore, college athletes are often held to higher expectations than that of regular college students, which ultimately leads to performance anxiety. This occurs when a large amount of stress is placed on an athlete, and it negatively affects their performance (Winik, 2021). “With pressures to perform in the game, as well as in the rest of their public lives, being an athlete can be incredibly challenging for a person’s mental health” (McMillan, 2022). So as a result of these stressors, we are seeing fewer athletes who are satisfied with their experience and more athletes finding the 4 years of college a struggle that they must endure. The American College of Sports Medicine states that approximately 30% of women and 25% of men who are student-athletes report having anxiety. (American College of Sports Medicine, 2021) Furthermore, research has found that 85% of female and 95% of male student-athletes have higher stress levels compared to 52% of non-athlete students. (Kindbridge, 2022) This is important to look at because we must understand the prevalence of mental health issues within college sports in order to continue working through this research. 

Stigma
The rare times discussion occurs about mental health within sports, we have often heard the word “stigma” being used. What this refers to is the idea that this topic is not talked about enough. Athletes feel as though they have to hide their feelings and struggles. Stigma often occurs from a lack of understanding of mental illness, through ignorance and misinformation. Additionally, it can also arise due to the negative attitudes or beliefs some people have towards mental illness (Healthdirect Australia, n.d.). With this being said, athletes are often afraid to admit they have a problem and reach out for help. For example, student-athletes who suffer from mental illness or who seek psychological services may fear being stereotyped as weak or incompetent (Watson, Corrigan, Larson, & Sells, 2007). This is where the stigma comes into play. Looking at what’s already out there regarding the media and mental health stigma, it’s interesting to note the media’s contribution to mental illness stigma. We see this through the exaggerated, inaccurate, and comical images used to portray people with psychiatric disorders as well as providing incorrect information about mental illness (Wahl, 1995). So, I tell you all of this in order to emphasize the importance of talking about mental health related to sports on social media. Social media has the capability of reaching a large audience if it is used in the right way. The more athletes see or hear it being talked about, especially online, the more likely they are to internalize that positively.

The Hidden Opponent

The Hidden Opponent is an accredited non-profit and advocacy group that raises awareness for student-athlete mental health and addresses the stigma within sports culture (thehiddenopponent.org, 2019). This started back in 2017 when former University of Southern California volleyball player, Victoria Browne, gave a TED Talk, “Mental Health in Athletics: The Hidden Opponent”. Since then, Browne has become an advocate for mental health and body image through her platforms (thehiddenopponent.org, 2019). This website ultimately expanded to social media, where they post about all things mental health and sports-related. Their goal is to break the stigma and create a safe space where athletes can feel comfortable discussing their struggles. The topic of mental health within college sports is slowly becoming more talked about. In fact, in 2023 the NCAA started Mental Health Mondays. This allowed for content pertaining to mental health and college sports to be posted and gain more discussion (NCAA.org, 2023). This is paving the way for accounts such as TheHiddenOpponent to help break the stigma. My research aims to analyze the interactions with TheHiddenOpponent’s Instagram account to understand the impact these posts have on its audience. By examining how people respond to the content, I want to assess the effectiveness of this account in influencing perceptions and behaviors related to mental health issues in sports. This study is crucial for advancing our understanding of digital advocacy’s role in lowering the stigma associated with mental health discussions. It is essential for us to evaluate whether such public advocacy efforts are contributing to a positive change. This analysis will help determine if and how digital platforms can serve as effective tools in the fight against the mental health stigma. 

 

  

 

 Reference List

American College of Sports Medicine. (2021, August 9). The American College of Sports Medicine Statement on Mental Health Challenges for Athletes. ACSM_CMS. https://www.acsm.org/news-detail/2021/08/09/the-american-college-of-sports-medicine-statement-on-mental-health-challenges-for-athletes

 

Bedewy, Dalia, and Adel Gabriel. “Examining Perceptions of Academic Stress and Its Sources among University Students: The Perception of Academic Stress Scale.” Health Psychology Open, vol. 2, no. 2, 30 July 2015, pp. 1–9, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2055102915596714, https://doi.org/10.1177/2055102915596714  

 

‌ Browne, Victoria “Home | the Hidden Opponent.” My Site, 2019, www.thehiddenopponent.org/#:~:text=The%20Hidden%20Opponent%20is%20an. Accessed 22 Apr. 2024.

 

Healthdirect Australia. (n.d.). Mental illness stigma. Healthdirect. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mental-illness-stigma

 

Kindbridge. “Common Mental Health Issues in College Student Athletes.” Behavioral Health Services with Kindbridge, 11 Oct. 2022, kindbridge.com/mental-health/common-mental-health-issues-in-college-student-athletes/

 

Lassiter, Jill W.; Campbell, Amanda L.; LeCrom, Carrie W.; and Dwyer, Brendan (2022) "The Impact of Academic Disruption on Stress Among College Athletes," Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics: Vol. 15, Article 26.

 

McMillan, Brooke. “Mental Health and Athletes.” Athletes for Hope, 14 May 2019, www.athletesforhope.org/2019/05/mental-health-and-athletes/#:~:text=With%20pressures%20to%20perform%20in. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024 

 

“Mental Health Social Media Campaign.” NCAA.org, www.ncaa.org/sports/2020/3/27/mental-health-social-media-campaign.aspx.

 

Wahl, Otto F. Media Madness : Public Images of Mental Illness. New Brunswick, Nj, Rutgers University Press, 1995. 

 

Watson AC, Corrigan P, Larson JE, Sells M. Self-stigma in people with mental illness. Schizophr Bull. 2007 Nov;33(6):1312-8. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbl076. Epub 2007 Jan 25. PMID: 17255118; PMCID: PMC2779887. 

 

Winik, Allison. “Performance Anxiety and Burnout in Student Athletes: Q&a with Allison Winik, PhD.” Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 2 Aug. 2021, www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/performance-anxiety-and-burnout-student-athletes-q-allison-winik-phd.