The World Aquatics Forum, held at the Aspire Dome in Doha, convened on Monday to tackle the rising issue of "the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders in athlete mental health." The forum highlighted a unified commitment within the aquatics community to address this escalating concern.
A diverse panel of experts, Rohan Taylor (AUS), Amber Keegan (GBR) and Alan Currie (GBR), engaged in discussions, drawing an audience of well over 100 attendees, emblematic of the growing recognition and significance of the issue.
The spotlight on mental health among high-profile athletes continues to intensify, garnering attention as a significant topic within high-performance sports. Statistics reveal that 13% of individuals worldwide have struggled with mental health issues at some stage in their lives. As societal dynamics evolve, high-profile athletes, often revered as superhuman, are not exception to these issues; they, too, confront the complexities of mental health.
In recent years, notable athletes have come out to share their battles with mental health. Icons across various sports have candidly discussed their personal challenges. Caeleb Dressel is among them and shared a poignant account of his post-Tokyo Olympics experience, revealing the detrimental effects of perfectionism on his mental well-being. He articulated how the relentless pursuit of excellence ultimately led to a breakdown, emphasizing the immense pressure athletes face, both internally and externally.
Events like the World Aquatics Championships are where we see amazing athletic skills, but they're also places where athletes feel a lot of pressure and stress. Sports like swimming, diving, artistic swimming, and high diving give athletes only brief moments to succeed or fail, which puts them under a lot of pressure.
Moreover, athletes contend with the weight of expectations from their entourage. Coaches, whose reputations hinge on their athletes' performances, aspire for success to reflect their efforts. National Federations, driven by ambitions for victory and qualification in prestigious competitions like the World Championships and Olympics, often correlate athletes' achievements with financial support from governments and potential sponsors.
Alan Currie, a British sports psychiatrist, and a member of both the Mental Health Expert Panel of the UK Sports Institute and the International Olympic Committee mental health working group, pointed out that “participating in sport is good for your mental health and makes us physically better, but high-performance sport is a bit different.” Currie highlighted that these high-performance athletes have specific goals, which bring significant pressures categorized as ‘personal stress,’ ‘competitive stress,’ and ‘organizational stress,’ serving as three major stressors that affect athletes’ mental health.
Rohan Taylor, Head Coach of the Australian Dolphins, provided insights from a coaching perspective, highlighting the importance of creating a supportive environment for athletes.
“If you're working with athletes who have goals and aspirations, your responsibility as a coach is to provide an environment to guide them down that path,” said Taylor. “How much you push them, how much pressure you put on them, to hold them accountable to their goals without addressing the other aspects of their life. So when they arrive on the pool deck for the first session of the week, spending time to check in, I think, is really important.”
Taylor also stressed the importance of alleviating pressure from coaches themselves, as they are judged daily based on their coaching and how their athletes perform.
Amber Keegan, a British Open Water swimmer who has grappled with mental health, underscored the challenges athletes face in speaking out about their struggles. She emphasized the crucial role of supportive environments and encouraged athletes to seek assistance when needed.
“Not everybody is in an environment where it is safe to speak up about mental health,” she continued. “When I was struggling with depression, I didn't want to speak up to my coach about it. When I finally did further down the line, he was the first person to support me all the way. It was just my perception that the environment wasn't good. We don't get it right all the time, but making a conscious effort to try and get it right can have a positive impact not just on you, but on your teammates and your coaches, and the people around you.”
Towards the end of the session, Alan Currie emphasized that addressing mental health concerns does not necessitate substantial financial investment but rather a shift in attitudes and values. He underscored the long-term benefits of prioritizing mental health support for athletes.
Questions have continued after the discussion. The discussion at the World Aquatics Forum reiterated the ongoing importance of addressing athlete mental health, signaling a collective commitment from all stakeholders to prioritize the well-being of athletes.