STrib: Gophers associate AD tells regents many athletes seek mental health services

per Marcus:

Between 30% and 40% of Gophers athletes used the athletic department’s sports psychology services last school year, senior associate athletic director Joi Thomas told the Board of Regents on Thursday.

Thomas cited that statistic during a presentation on the athletic department’s emphasis on improving mental health awareness, which was a key part of AD Mark Coyle’s annual report before the Board.

The numbers immediately caught the attention of Joan Gabel, the school’s new president.

Gabel, previously the provost at South Carolina, spoke about how passionate she is on student mental health issues, something she describes as an “epidemic” and a “crisis” at universities across the country.

“Often well over 40 percent of our students arrive on campus with a mental health diagnosis,” Gabel said, speaking generally. “And then we receive them where they are, as their institution, as their home and as a member of our community and our family.

“Of course, we want to provide the appropriate resources for the care associated with receiving that diagnosis. But we also want our students to be successful.”

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...hletes-seek-mental-health-services/512616162/

Go Gophers!!

So anybody help out with what the sports psychology department actually does? When I think of sports psychology I think of improving in game performance. The baseball team practices visualization as a group to increase performance, for instance. You could go to a sports psychologist to feel more confident, more comfortable performing in front of crowds. Many, many sports related discussions.

Or, you could be depressed for million reasons...lost your girlfriend, Dupree with his mom passing, worried you are going to flunk out, you realize you were abused at home etc etc

Is it both, all of the above, anything you need or does a sports psychologist concentrate on optimum in game performance only?

Just curious about the context because if it is about optimum sports performance then it should be 100% utilization imo

Probably more about stress management and dealing with things not going your way (see Isaiah Washington for example). I can imagine balancing athletics and academics at a D1 school can be fairly difficult and demanding(assuming there is no academic fraud), it's good to have a support system in place for athletes that are struggling personally with everything going on in their life. Obviously when you are in a good mental state, your performance on the court, field, etc... should usually be at optimal levels as well.