Rose Bowl Institute Hosted Rose Table Dialogue

In its continued effort to champion sportsmanship, leadership, and citizenship, the Rose Bowl Institute recently hosted its second Rose Table Dialogue, which focused on Mental Health in Athletes.

At the end of last year, a group of over 20 renowned sport athletes, coaches, and professionals, met around the DeWitt Family Rose Table inside of the Charles E. Young Locker Room at the Rose Bowl Stadium to address the various concerns of Mental Health in Athletes.

The discussion, which featured athletes and professionals such as Paige Nielsen (Angel City), Jarrod Bunch (former NFL Athlete), Anna Glenn (former UCLA Gymnast and ABA Behavior Specialist), Olden Polynice (Former NBA Athlete), Orlando Scandrick (Co-host of the “Airing it out” podcast), Colleen Quigley (Track and Field Olympian), and Pierce Brooks (Certified Life Coach), also discussed ways that more attention could be spent on shifting the culture of understanding and solutions. The dialogue concluded by brainstorming ways that the stigma of mental health issues would disappear, recognizing the signs of mental health needs and the solutions needed. The discussion explored ways that team officials, parents, coaches, and athletes can move the needling in addressing the mental health concern in ways that are most conducive to resolving these issues and improving the athlete’s health.

For many years, the mental aspect of athlete wellness was ignored or even derided. In more recent years, however, new awareness has illuminated the need to address the mental game, not only for its preparation for competition, but for the adversity that mental issues and problems can cause athletes and teams. Currently, experts estimate that 20% of the general population will have a mental issue in any given year, but that figure rises to 30% in the 18-25 age group, a prime age for athletic competition. What can be done to improve the state of athletes’ mental health?

The Dialogue began with participants sharing personal stories which highlighted why certain mental health issues arise in athletic contexts. These include pressure to perform from coaches, owners of professional sports franchises, parents in some cases, and from the players themselves; reluctance to admit to problems or to ask for help due to appearance of weakness or non-athleticism; lack of recognition of mental health red flags by coaches and parents; sexual harassment, bullying and hazing; burn-out, often from pressures to excel at an early age; financial considerations (e.g., needing to get a scholarship, or from management in the professional ranks); and injuries that change athletic trajectories.

They also include identity issues that arise in various contexts such as moving from a dangerous neighborhood to a large university environment where most people in authority “don’t look like you,” or from retiring after a career of being a high school, college, and professional athlete. To that last item, as one participant summarized, “the ball stops bouncing for us all.”

Participants observed that they were expected to perform at will and often people recognized them only as an athlete over being the unique human that they are. Success is supposed to equal happiness in the world of athletics, but it doesn’t always. At times, the rush of competition instilled in athletes overwhelms everything else, whether on the playing field or at gambling venues. It becomes the end-all.

These pressures and stimuli have led to a variety of mental issues including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and gambling. As Dr. Todd Stull points out in “Mind, Body and Sport: The psychiatrist perspective[i],” anxiety disorders include performance anxiety, panic attacks, phobias after significant injury, and to a lesser extent, obsessive-compulsive disorders. Athletes can feel overwhelmed and excessive stress that is difficult to control. Mood disorders such as depression can come from substance abuse, or a pre-existing disorder such as bipolar or a thyroid disorder. While any of the identified disorders can arise in athletes, ADHD appears more common in males, while eating disorders are more common with females.

The broad conclusions at the Dialogue were that the stigma of mental health issues needs to disappear; athletes, coaches, trainers, and parents need to recognize signs of mental health issues; and the broader community must accept that athletes are humans first and not performance robots. How can team officials, parents, coaches, trainers, and athletes move to address mental health issues in ways that are most conducive to resolving these issues and improving athletes’ mental health?

In the end, much of this comes down to trust: trust in parents, coaches, trainers, professionals in mental health, and most of all, in themselves. Trust brings confidence that one is on the road to a solution to whatever problem ails them. Trust allows parents and coaches to back off from the pressures on the athlete to compete and excel. These are not easy problems in society generally. Adding in the extra pressures and circumstances of athletics exacerbates the difficulties. But those who confront the problem are headed in the right direction. The world of sports has a long road to travel.

In addition to taking place in the Charles E. Young Locker Room, the summit convened over a new state-of-the-art conference table, aptly named “The Rose Table.” The Rose Table, which was generously donated by John and Bonnie DeWitt and their family, is custom crafted in the shape of the Rose Bowl Stadium’s world-famous bowl, finished in Brazilian Rosewood, and seats 26 around the table in its full formation, or 20 in its football shape. This iconic table will host future educational dialogues and initiatives for the Rose Bowl Institute.

To view a summary video of the Rose Table Dialogue on Mental Health please Click Here.

For more information on the Rose Bowl Institute, including future Rose Table Dialogues, please email rosebowlinstitute@rosebowlstadium.com, or call (626) 577-3100.