Student Athletes and Mental Health: What Campus Leaders Need to Know

There’s no doubt about it: College Game Day is one of the most anticipated days of the sports season. For most institutions, collegiate-level sports are a big deal that brings hopeful visitors to campus, and, not to mention, an additional revenue stream. But for the student athletes, the sports season can bring about a lot of pressure and challenges. 

If you have athletes on campus, they likely require additional care and support to ensure they’re successful in their academic and athletic careers. In this post, we’ll discuss student athletes and mental health. Plus, suggest ways you and your leadership team can better support your athletes throughout their time on your campus. 

Mental Health Challenges Student Athletes Face

Student athletes are not exempt from mental health challenges like depression or anxiety. In fact, a study conducted by the NCAA reports that one in twelve college athletes say they are so depressed that it is difficult for them to function in the day-to-day. 

However, depression and anxiety are not the only issues these students face. College athletes also struggle with: 

• Academic pressure to keep up with their studies and scholarship requirements
• Performance pressure that can lead to overtraining, lack of sleep, or injuries 
• Burn-out relating to their sport and their studies
• Time management issues due to juggling practice, games, and their course load

Playing a sport and keeping up with their academics can be mentally and physically challenging for students. For struggling athletes, additional support from leadership, advisors, and peers is needed to help them stay on track for graduation and bring a victory to their team.

How to Focus on Student Athletes and Mental Health

Promoting mental health awareness is always good, especially for student athletes. With more responsibilities, like extra practice and games, student athletes are more likely to fall behind in their studies or feel the effects of burnout.

Here are four ways your campus can prioritize student athletes and mental health.

1. Encourage Open Team Dialogue 

Student athletes spend significant time with their teammates and coaches; sometimes, they know each other best. Their coaches and teammates may be the first to recognize when a teammate is mentally struggling. 

Admitting to struggling with mental health challenges can be a taboo or embarrassing topic. However, by creating a supportive, welcoming environment that allows for open dialogue, student athletes can share their struggles and support each other throughout their academic journey.
Your campus can promote open dialogue within the team. Schedule weekly meetings for your team to check-in with each other.  You can also take it further by implementing live chat or an intuitive AI chatbot into your college website. Chatting with an online advisor, whether a live person or AI, can help students feel more comfortable sharing their feelings and struggles while also learning to implement appropriate coping mechanisms.

2. Utilize Peer Mentor Programs

Peer mentor programs are a great way to connect student athletes with their peers for additional accountability and guidance. Peer mentors, typically junior or senior-level students, are more than just student guides. They can help student athletes learn coping mechanisms and time management skills or just support students in their time of need. 
If you already have a peer mentor program on campus, advertise this option to your student athletes. Use Cadence Text to send reminders about the program and meeting times. The more awareness your campus can bring to peer mentor programs, the more likely your struggling athletes will participate in the services.

3. Maintain Constant Communication

One reason your student athletes may be struggling with their mental health is because of the lack of support. College can be lonely for some students, and losing focus and connections with others can be easy. Make it a point to check in with your student athletes regularly. A simple “Hey, how are you doing?” text or email can help boost a student’s mood. 

Plus, if you integrate Cadence into your Learning Management System (LMS), Cadence can quickly and easily analyze your students’ sentiments to give you a quicker read of how students are feeling. Knowing this information, you and your team can easily step in to support a struggling student.

4. Provide Mental Health Services

On-campus mental health support services can make all the difference for student athletes and their mental health. On-site counselors can help provide the necessary resources and guidance students need to help them work through the challenges they face throughout their academic journey.

If your campus already offers these services, are your student athletes aware of them? If not, create a marketing plan to raise awareness about your on-campus support services. This might include sending SMS or WhatsApp messages to remind students of the available help periodically or training your AI assistant to mention the availability of in-person counseling when a student asks a troublesome question online. 

Supporting Student Athletes and Mental Health with Cadence

Your student athletes are an essential student group on campus. Not only are they bright students, but they’re also talented athletes who help put your institution in the spotlight. And while college athletes might seem as if they “have it all together,” often this isn’t the case, and they need additional support for their mental health. 

Integrating Cadence into your existing student management system is a great way to provide additional support for student athletes and their mental health. Cadence can help you analyze student sentiment and keep in regular contact with students who might otherwise fall through the cracks and stay silent about their struggles.

Ready to learn how Cadence can improve your communication and connections with students? Book a demo with our team today.

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