How Are We Doing?

Not So Good!

Recent medical reports reveal that mental wellness has become a major concern due to enforced lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting all age groups in society, including young children. It is vital to incorporate mental wellness skills into sports programs because of the increasing levels of stress, anxiety, depression, suicide attempts, and suicides among both elite athletes and younger competitors. 

Statistics Canada (2019) provides their latest data on Youth suicide:

129 males – 11.9% per 100,000

71 females – 6.9% per 100,000

Suicides account for 25% of all deaths among 15-19-year-olds According to 2021 data by the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control), 45% of American High school students have experienced a high level of anxiety and stress; 20% (1 out of 5) had thoughts about suicide, and 9% committed suicide. Laura Ingraham, Fox News (January 9, 2024), reported:

… American people feel hopeless, and suicide among youth has risen by 62% as America's youth is in the midst of a full-blown mental health crisis. The Washington Post reports that the CDC found nearly 45% of high school students were persistently sad or hopeless in 2021. Almost one in five seriously considered suicide, and 9% in this survey tried to take their lives during the previous 12 months. It turns out that locking kids down, robbing them of their socialization, robbing them of sports, and key milestones in their development. Then, confusing them with gender fluidity propaganda doesn't make them happy and well-adjusted …

Mental health among Canadian children and youth is in crisis, with about 1 in 5 (21%) reporting worsening mental health from 2019 to 2023. Anxiety is the most common issue, with high levels of distress, especially among girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, caused by factors like pandemic disruptions, economic instability, and social media. 

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Canadian youth aged 15–19, with rates around 5.01 per 100,000 from 2010 to 2018. Although youth suicide rates have recently decreased overall, they are still higher than the global average. In 2019, the rates were 10.3 per 100,000 for males and 6.0 per 100,000 for females. 

A Swim study examined the athletes at the 2019 FINA World Championships:

Results: About a quarter (24.6%) of the 377 responding athletes were classified as depressed, and 2.5% had an eating disorder. Over 40% expressed a desire or need for psychotherapeutic support. Fifty-one athletes (14.9%) reported experiencing harassment or abuse in sports themselves, while 31 (9%) had witnessed it in another athlete. The experiences ranged from unwanted comments about body or appearance (40.2%) to rewards for sexual favors (2.5%) and rape (0.3%). Athletes who experienced abuse and harassment personally had higher average scores for depression and eating disorders, and more of them felt they needed psychological support. Up to a third would not speak up or report incidents if they saw or experienced harassment or abuse, and less than 20% would seek help from an official (Mountjoy, Junge, Magnusson, Shahpar, Ortiz-Lizczno, Varvodic, Wang, Cherif, Hill, & Miller, 2022).

The findings are staggering, given that a study was needed to reveal the “dark side of sports.” US Olympian Michael Phelps co-produced the 2020 documentary “The Weight of Gold.” It became the focus during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as Tennis player Naomi Osaka (Japan) and super US gymnast Simone Biles declared personal mental issues. SWIMSWAM News reports that ‘things haven’t gone as smoothly’ for Hungarian swimmer Kristof Milak in 2023. After previously being announced as one of the stars racing all three legs of the 2023 World Cup circuit, he pulled out of the opening stop in Berlin from the 2023 World Championships due to mental and physical fatigue … and this, after just returning to heavy training. Russian swimmer Kliment Kolesnikov, a Tokyo Olympian, says, “Olympics aren’t everything,” and shares his mental health perspective by saying that:

… Too much emphasis on swimming can weigh down other aspects of life. Kolesnikov, 23, said that while the Olympics remain at the highest level an athlete strives for, centering your identity solely around sports can lead to mental health struggles. It has not lost its meaning as a whole; the Olympics remain the best thing that can happen in the life of an athlete, but it is no longer the meaning of life; there is no need to connect them, Kolesnikov said. By doing this, people then begin to suffer from depression. The right approach to this is: It’s just like a competition, after which you forget about it all. Besides the Olympics and swimming, there are other things you can do and enjoy (Southerland, November 29, 2023, SWIMSWAM)

… As the keynote speaker in Germany in 1994, I presented the topic “Sports: Enjoyment –Fron (physical, emotional, and mental labor) – Destruction (mental and death/suicide). The audience was shocked, deeming it too severe and upsetting! An extensive essay on my website in 2021 discusses the mental health crisis in sports, which has been growing to an alarming level for some time.
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‍Refer to www.coachingbest.com‍ ‍
December 2021 Newsletter: “Are Sports Prepared to Deal with Mental Issues of Athletes?”‍ ‍
According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), up to 35% of elite athletes experience mental health symptoms and disorders. Despite challenges such as the stigma around mental health, conversations are becoming more common in high-performance sports. The IOC has developed a mental health recognition toolkit to help those in sports identify and address mental health issues (SIRC, 2023). Although this is commendable, addressing the issue at the elite level does  nothing to address the occurrences in the lower levels, mainly because few coaches are trained or educated enough to deal with these issues. In these perplexing times, mental wellness is a significant quality of life. It has to be addressed through numerous sources, such as quality sports programs and positive sports participation experiences. So, how do coaches usually react – not always very positively.“I just ‍coach swimming. I don’t have the time.” I don't know about that psych stuff!” Really? So, why are we coaching? We should help children and youth become good athletes and contributing members of society through a holistic, athlete-centered approach. Furthermore, children and youth need our support during these critical times by providing opportunities to engage in sports activities within a positive and encouraging training environment. After all, the Greek classical philosopher Plato stated: “Sound mind in a sound body.” Therefore, coaches must incorporate mental wellness strategies into their programs. Activities such as progressive relaxation, deep breathing exercises, Pilates, Yoga, and Tai Chi can be included to help athletes develop effective personal stress management techniques. This means they must be trained to become more aware of and sensitive to athletes’ needs and health status. 

As of late March 2026, Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and Google (YouTube) were found liable in a landmark California lawsuit for designing addictive platforms that damaged the mental health of children and young adults. TikTok and Snapchat settled similar claims shortly before the trial started. A jury in Los Angeles, on March 26, said Meta and YouTube should pay $6 million for negligently designing Instagram and YouTube and failing to warn of their potential harm. The plaintiff is a 20-year-old woman identified in court by the pseudonym Kaley. She began using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9. She claimed their intentionally addictive design harmed her mentally, including causing social anxiety and depression. The jury of 12 deliberated for eight days and into the ninth before awarding $3 million in compensatory damages and determining that Meta shared 70 percent of the blame while YouTube was responsible for 30 percent. They heard about 40 minutes of argument from attorneys regarding punitive damages, then awarded $3 million in punitives, with Meta to pay $2.1 million and YouTube $900,000. 

However, the mental and emotional harm inflicted on young children and teenagers is severe. Kids and teens need to spend time outdoors, participate in physical activities, and enjoy their childhood and youth. Instead, they have become sedentary, overweight, obese, anxious, stressed, and some have developed suicidal tendencies. The well-known traditional slogan of physical education, “Sound mind – Sound body,” is totally disregarded. 

For those still involved in their sport of choice, “tech addiction’ has led to a decline in critical and analytical thinking and a loss of creativity. Social communication was once a benefit for members of sports teams, whether in individual or team sports. We are missing out! Recently, I observed several athletes at a lunch setting. No interaction, everyone on their gadgets, and when lunch was served… one hand on the gadget and the other doing the “feeding,” whereby one missed the mouth and struck the nose. That’s a way to go! Sad… very sad!

In another case, two young female athletes, obsessed with their gadgets, walked side by side, communicating via their phones instead of talking to each other! That’s the height of social disconnection. Yet, many complain about social isolation! The question I have is: What can we, as coaches, do to stop further regression?

References:

Balyi, I., Way, R., & Higgs, G. (2013). Long-term athlete development: A guide to developing a philosophy of sport for life. Training frameworks.A consistently ‍ ‍successful organization. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Cove, T. (2022). The state of play. Participation trends. Aspen Institute. Project Play. Retrieved January 20, 20024, from https://projectplay.org/state-of-play- 2022/participation-trends

Liberman, E., & MacIntosh, E. (2023, November 22). Elevating athlete voices: The path to safe sport in Canada. Ottawa, ON, Canada: The Sport Information ‍ ‍Resource Centre (SIRC).‍ ‍

Mosston, M., & Ashworth, S. (1990). The spectrum of teaching styles: From command to discovery. New York: Longman.

Mosston, M. (1965). Developmental movement. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merill.

Mountjoy, M., Junge, A., Magnusson, C., Shahpar, F.M., Ortiz Lizcano, E.I., Vardovic, J., Wang, X., Cherif, M.Y., Hill, L., & Miller, J. (2022). Beneath the surface: Mental health and harassment and abuse of athletes participating in FINA (Aquatics) World Championships, 2019. Clin J Sport Med, 32(2), 95-102. March. National Library of Medicine (NIH). National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubMed. doi: 10.1097/JSM.0000000000000971.

Phelps, M. (2020, July 29). The Weight of Gold. Phelps, Director and Actor. HBO Documentary.

Purcell, R., Gwyther, K., & Rice, S.M. (2019). Mental health in elite athletes: Increased awareness requires an early intervention framework to respond to athlete needs. Sports Medicine Open, 5(1), 46. November. Springer Open. PubMed. doi:10.1186/s40 798-019-0220-1.

Schloder, M.E. (2020). Age group and gender differences in growth and development. Lecture Notes. Sociology of Sports. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Southerland, J. (2023, November 29). Kliment Kolesnikov says Olympics aren’t everything, shares mental health perspective. Europe International News.‍ ‍SwimSwam.