Athlete Identity, Meaningful Relationships, & Open Dialogue

Mental Health Interview Analysis

Introduction:

Oftentimes when people leave for college they are told that it’s a time to find yourself, learn who you are, and figure out what you want to do in life. However, as a college athlete they are told who they are and how they are supposed to feel. With that being said, I wanted to dive deeper and ask the question: how do the origins of athlete identity, meaningful relationships, and open dialogue concerning mental health impact the mental wellbeing of collegiate student-athletes? This question stemmed from my findings in my survey analysis, compelling me to ask deeper questions throughout the interviews I conducted.

Data and Methods:

I obtained a sample of four semi-structured interviews. The participants I interviewed were four of my current teammates. Initially I was going to do former student athletes, some of which I played with at my previous institution. I had done my first interview with a former athlete and it went just fine. However, trying to find more former athletes who were available at the same time as me was an extreme challenge. Therefore, I defaulted to simply interviewing four of my current teammates. Looking back I feel that it was more beneficial to go about it in this way because it was a more specific group of people. For example, this group of respondents are all division one female basketball players at Boston University. All four of my interviews were conducted in the quiet common rooms of my apartment or their apartment. Myself and therespondents were set up at a table in a professional way, yet I made sure to allow for very free flowing conversation that led to interesting findings.

Results:

Athlete Identity:

This was the first topic that I noticed was consistent across the board. This topic known as athlete identity is described as, “the degree to which a person identifies with the role of an athlete and looks to others for acknowledgement of that role”. This might not sound like much to the average person but one of the respondents described it in a concise way stating that, “it is the feeling that my whole worth as a human is tied to me as an athlete. I know this sounds dramatic but if I have a bad game or even bad practice often I feel worthless.” There are a few factors that seem to create this so-called athlete identity, with the first being, when athletes are seen as numbers rather than people. All four of the respondents stated that the staff they have now makes them feel seen as a number, in other words, a means to an end or easily replaceable. Respondent 2 stated, “I mean when you think about it, my coach is always thinking about who she’s getting to replace us. It’s just a business, like, they keep filling and refilling. It’s as if we are just part of a machine that cycles us through, wringing us out like a towel and then discarding us.”

Another element that came up and plays a large part in athlete identity is the constant pressure to perform in the classroom and on the court. Just about every program in the country will tell you about the high standards and expectations they have for their student athletes and Boston University is no exception. BU has an acceptance rate of 18% and is a division 1 institution. “It just feels impossible for me to be the best student I can be while also being thebest athlete that I can be. It’s a constant battle picking and choosing which one for the day I’m gonna focus on, because I feel like I have to sacrifice one for the other '' said respondent 4. This leads to mental and physical exhaustion which all respondents reported experiencing. When a person experiences constant exhaustion of any kind it leads to burnout which is closely correlated to mental health struggles for college athletes.

Meaningful Relationships:

This was the second theme that jumped out at me. When speaking with each of the respondents it was clear how much their teammates mean to them. They talked about their teammates getting them through tough situations and providing a great sense of support in their overall college experience. Two of the respondents stressed how important it is for them to have teammates to lean on because “no one else truly understands what we’re going through on a day to day basis” stated respondent 3.

With all that being said, there is another very important group of people who college athletes hope to support them and that would be their coaching staff. To give some quick context, the four participants I interviewed are currently dealing with a whole different coaching staff than they did last year and as reported by all four of them, the old staff and new staff could not be more different.

The first coaching staff was able to have deeper conversations, allowing them to build meaningful relationships where the respondents felt seen and heard. This led to less of a struggle with mental health or at least lessened the load of pressure and stressors. Creating these relationships forms an environment where the respondents also feel safe and supported. Respondent 1 explains one of the notable differences between the two staffs, “With the first staffI always felt that I had someone to go to and confide in. With this new staff I struggle to feel a connection. The only thing I consistently experience with this staff is superficial interactions, and I can tell you with certainty that it has not been good for the mental health of our team”. Hearing this is a clear indication on how important meaningful relationships are to athletes and their enjoyment throughout their experience.

Open dialogue concerning mental health:

One of the questions I made sure to ask each respondent was: when do conversations about mental health take place? Is it amongst teammates and coaches or just one or the other? A consistent theme for this question was that conversation regarding mental health currently only involves team members. Respondent 3 elaborated on this question stating, “It’s [mental health] talked about a lot more with the team and not the coaches at all. Like I said, our coach didn’t even know what mental health really was. They don’t seem to understand that we deal with more things than just school and basketball and when we try to convey that to them they dismiss us. It’s very frustrating”.

On the other hand, the respondents brought up how the coaching staffs differed in this regard as well. The old coaching staff was said to talk about mental health in a “concerned yet, positive manner '' whereas the new staff wants nothing to do with a conversation of that nature. Only one of the respondents had mentioned saying something about mental health to the coaches and she was told to go to behavioral health which currently has a three month wait. Respondent 1 kept it short and sweet when I asked her her thoughts on talking to her coach(es) about mental health or other personal information and said, “Uhh well one I don’t wanna talk to my coach about anything because she's super defensive about things she doesn’t agree with or doesn’t know about”.

Conclusion:

I want to make it clear that none of these respondents struggled with mental health prior to college athletics; yet, at some point throughout the interview they touched on times that they had struggled with mental health throughout their athletic college career. My results from the interviews show and explain that hyper emphasis on athlete identity, lack of meaningful relationships, and the inability to have open conversation with teammates and coaches about mental health leads to a poor overall experience and lack of mental wellbeing. It has been explained in my survey analysis and now in my interview study that when student athletes feel free to talk to their coaching staff about their mental health or other personal information, there is a positive environment that is created allowing everyone to feel accepted leading to a sense of belonging and lowering the chances of anxiety, depression, or any other mental illness.

The question I kept asking myself throughout these interviews was how are these respondents supposed to enjoy their experience and keep their mental health in check while operating in such a dismissive environment. There were many things that I could have adjusted or controlled. The main thing I realized in hindsight was the fact that I should not have interviewed the respondents a day after a game, specifically a loss. Anyone in the athletic world understands that after any game emotions are running high leading to people to say slightly different answers than how they truly feel. This was definitely one of my biggest regrets, but I could only have so many open slots to meet with the respondents. I also noticed half way through my first interview that I was not truly listening to the answers the respondent was sharing because I was preparing to ask the next question orthinking about how certain quotes could fit into my paper. Lastly, I thought I did a good job probing throughout interviews but I did find myself once in a while asking yes or no questions. Reflexivity was a factor that was very prevalent throughout each of my interviews given that all four respondents are current teammates of mine. I was clear that this information was confidential and would not leave the room. Despite that, I knew it was inevitable that I affected certain answers considering that in the past I have been outspoken about my journey as a college athlete and made my feelings known about the coaches. This was something that I was completely unable to control but did my best to compensate for.

Other considerations:

Overall, this question is of grand importance given that mental health struggles are on the rise and collegiate and professional athletes are now coming forward and sharing their struggles. This interview analysis runs parallel to the survey analysis I recently concluded. It agrees with the findings that I found in the survey. Specifically, relationships between players and coaches and college athletes mental wellbeing. Throughout these interviews here was no hypothesis proven or disproven however, the results in both analysis pieces came out just about how I suspected. The reason I can confidently say that is because I have experienced being a college athlete first hand for five years now.