Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the role of sport culture in athlete mental health, the importance of mental healthcare providers having an understanding of this context, and how athletes tend to access mental healthcare. Ten athletes with personal experience in these domains were interviewed and a thematic analysis was used. Athletes who attributed their mental health challenges to their sport participation thought it was important for their mental healthcare providers to have experience with sport. Normalization and validation of mental illness within the sport context and understanding competitive sport culture were identified as important. Facilitators of care access included a supportive cultural environment and influential individuals. Barriers included stigma and the financial cost of treatment. Coaches influenced athletes’ attitudes toward help-seeking. Implications for assessment and treatment of mental illness in athletes are discussed. Future research should explore gender, race, and ethnicity in athletes’ experiences with mental illness.

Highlights

  • COMPETITIVE ATHLETES’ EXPERIENCES WITH MENTAL ILLNESS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT Master of Arts, 2019 Rachel Jewett Psychology Ryerson University

  • Far we have explored the disconnect between the normative understanding of what it means to be a competitive athlete produced by competitive sport culture, the reality of the lived experience of an athlete with mental illness, and the effect of this incongruence on these athletes’ understandings of mental illness in the sport context

  • The first section of the study findings presents a detailed examination of the role of competitive sport culture in both the stressors and benefits athletes perceived as impacting their mental health, and in how athletes have come to perceive mental illness in light of normative discourses that define competitive athletes

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Summary

Introduction

COMPETITIVE ATHLETES’ EXPERIENCES WITH MENTAL ILLNESS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT Master of Arts, 2019 Rachel Jewett Psychology Ryerson University. The purpose of the study was to explore the role of sport culture in athlete mental health, the importance of mental healthcare providers having an understanding of this context, and how athletes tend to access mental healthcare. Ten athletes with personal experience in these domains were interviewed and a thematic analysis was used. Athletes who attributed their mental health challenges to their sport participation thought it was important for their mental healthcare providers to have experience with sport. Normalization and validation of mental illness within the sport context and understanding competitive sport culture were identified as important. Future research should explore gender, race, and ethnicity in athletes’ experiences with mental illness

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