Category Archives: Thought Leadership

Q&A: Rower Ally Eggleton

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Athletes Connected caught up with rower and Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) Mental Health Liaison Ally Eggleton. Ally is a senior and shares her mental health story, how she got involved with SAAC and what she does to stay centered.

The Athletes Connected program recognizes the many different entities that factor into student-athlete mental health. As part of our Q&A series, Athletes Connected shares how coaches, administrators, athletic trainers and other athletic staff approach their roles in the lives of student-athlete health.

See our previous Q&A posts:

I’m so lucky because through athletics, the mental health resources are superb. The Athletics Counseling Team (ACT) has been so crucial to my success. Whenever I need something or I have a bad day I can shoot my counselor a text she gets right back to me, either to schedule an appointment or with words of encouragement.

Q: What was your introduction to mental health?
A: My introduction to mental health in the 8th grade, I stumbled across Goldberg’s depression test online and took it because I feel like it might be something interesting. It came back that I was severely depressed. I knew the way I was feeling wasn’t very normal to feel. So I’ve been struggling with depression since before the 8th grade, but that was when I first found out.

I didn’t tell anyone until junior year of high school. That’s when I started getting help. Through that process and in college I developed a passion for helping kids who are like me. That’s where my interest in psychology has come from and my interest in the mental health field and why I want to become a clinical therapist.

Q: Since being at Michigan, how have folks aided your mental health for the better?
A: I’m so lucky because through athletics, the mental health resources are superb. The Athletics Counseling Team (ACT) has been so crucial to my success. Whenever I need something or I have a bad day I can shoot my counselor a text she gets right back to me, either to schedule an appointment or with words of encouragement. My coaches and trainers and counselors have been good if I’m scared about something. Michigan Athletics really prioritize the health of its athletes in every sense of the word. It’s been so nice to have that support network behind me and that I can reach out if I need anything.

Freshman year, the Athletes Connected wellness group was an amazing resource. I was always a big participant. Knowing I had that support put me at ease. It made it so that I was willing and able to put myself in position to reach out and get help.

Q: How did you become a mental health liaison?
A: I know that the two SAAC mental health representatives graduated so I saw that there was an opening for it. That was when Rachel Amity (Athletes Connected program coordinator)  reached out to me, and told me that I was recommended for the position. It was something that I knew I wanted to do, but I didn’t know how to get into it. I’m glad that I’m able to do it.

Q: What are some of the goals that you and your fellow SAAC members have for mental health for the 2020-21 year?
A: We have a lot of things in the works that we’re trying to do. We want to continue spreading the awareness for athlete mental health. I partnered with Hidden Opponent, founded by former USC volleyball player Victoria Garrick, which is a large mental health advocacy group. They have great ideas, resources, panels and talks. We really want, depending on how games and meets and races go, to do some mental health dedicated events sponsored by SAAC to push that mental health awareness. Things like wear lime green ribbons, t-shirts, etc. 

UNCut, which was started at UNC, is another really cool sub-organization that I’d like to start through SAAC to tell athlete stories about mental health and wellbeing. I want people to know that it’s really OK to struggle, that we all struggle in different ways, that you’re not going through it alone and to try and make you the best person you can be.

Q: Obviously 2020 has been thrown for a loop. What are you doing to stay mentally well?
A: I’ve been leaning on my teammates and my housemates and best friends. We talk E + R = O.

Event

Response

Outcome

The only thing I can control during COVID is how I react to it. It’s really what I’ve been doing as an anchoring part. The power is in my hands even when it feels like it’s so out of my hands.

Q: Are there any other ways you’ve been helping others during the pandemic?
A: A big one I’ve been trying to reach out to those who are closest to me, especially when on campus. I’ve continued training with my team. We don’t have captains, we have senior leaders where we split the team into smaller families and reach out to freshmen and help them out. Really, just trying to spread awareness that E + R = O, making sure that we’re all being kind to others and kind to ourselves.

Q: In terms of performance, how do you get into a good headspace for competition?
A: The biggest thing for me is to have fun and remember, rowing to me is such a cool sport to me. We use “Why” statements. The reason I row is that there’s no better feeling than being at the start line with 4 or 8 other girls and putting it all together, going through 2K meters of pure hell. I do it for my team, for the girls around me. Whenever I remind myself of that, it just soothes me a bit.

Q: What has been your proudest achievement at U-M?
A: I think the obvious one is my sophomore year our team won Big Tens and placed 3rd at NCAAs. Building off that, the reason we did so well that year was the team culture that our seniors built. My proudest achievement was being a part of a team that loves each other so much that even when we’re not the fastest on paper, we can still win championships together.

 

Q&A: Gymnast Polina Shchennikova

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The Athletes Connected program recognizes the many different entities that factor into student-athlete mental health. As part of our Q&A series, Athletes Connected shares how coaches, administrators, athletic trainers and other athletic staff approach their roles in the lives of student-athlete health.

To continue the series, Athletes Connected caught up with women’s gymnastics student assistant coach Polina Shchennikova, who medically retired from competition in fall 2018. Shchennikova graduated from U-M this spring with a bachelor’s degree in sports management.

See our previous Q&A posts:

  • Former U-M senior associate athletic trainer Jeremy Marra
  • U-M head diving coach Mike Hilde
  • Runner Ben Flanagan

    • Q: Tell us about yourself. Where are you from? What did you study?  
    Hi, my name is Polina Shchennikova. I’m from Denver, Colorado. I’m a gymnast. I studied sport management and graduating earlier this month. I’m still unsure what I’m doing after, but I’m hoping to stay in the gymnastics world.

    Q: Outside of school & sport, what are your other passions?
    A: I would say focusing on mental health and helping people in whatever ways I can. That’s how I came up with the idea for FLY (First Love Yourself), and it’s directed toward athletes who are currently facing or have overcome challenges, whether it be injury, managing school, or body image.

    Q: Why did you create FLY? Was it something that worked well for you or because you felt something was missing while dealing with your own mental health issues?   
    Definitely because of things that were missing. Growing up I had a lot of personal struggles, and they ended up taking a downward spiral, and I really don’t want kids to feel the way I felt when I was doing athletics. I want them to all have a better experience. I was so invested in gymnastics – to the point that it ended my career.

    I really don’t want kids to feel the way I felt when I was doing athletics. I want them to all have a better experience

    That was one of the most painful things I think I’ve felt. Gymnastics was my whole life. I did online school so I could have more time to do gymnastics. My coaches were my parents, my family going back many generations were gymnasts. I was willing to give up just about everything to do it, and that wasn’t the healthiest way for me to think about things.

    Q: Was there anything else specific missing in terms of mental health as an athletes?
    I didn’t know how to take care of my body, either. I was raised in a “this is how you should look” mindset. If you don’t look a certain way, you won’t be able to perform a certain way; the lighter you are, the better you’ll perform.

    That impacted my mental health as an athlete, and that is still stuff I struggle with today. There’s so much with body image and body shaming. My junior year, we went to one of our team retreats and it was very emotional because we had a team presentation about body image. We all cried, we all opened up and shared our stories and it was amazing and inspiring to see what everybody else was keeping inside and how much it impacted them. But no one knew until we sat down and had that conversation.

    After that, we became a lot closer with ourselves, our teammates, and even our coaches. I wish I would have had an experience like that earlier, while growing up. If we can do this with this team, imagine what we can do with a bigger group of people and a bigger group of athletes if we can get them to open up and share their stories, whether it’s body image or any other mental health issue. That is where it really sparked the idea that FLY could really be something.

    Q: What is your vision?
    When it comes to mental health, I know how hard it can be to speak up about your struggles, and I know how hard it is to come face to face with those issues, so for me, at first it started as wanting this symbol we can all wear together to unite us.

    In this case, the symbol is a butterfly. The body of the butterfly is a semicolon, which represents suicide awareness. The wings represent the feeling of anxiety, because a lot of people say it’s like getting butterflies in your stomach.

    In the wings, I also included a yin and yang symbol to represent depression. It shows that there is good in the bad and bad in the good. The color scheme is black and white; the absence of colors symbolizes a loss from a struggle that–for example–ended your sport.

    Q: Do you have programming yet?  
    No, mostly because I want it to be perfect. That’s why it’s taken so long even to get the symbol out there. I started this two years ago, and I still haven’t had a moment of “this is perfect” yet. But I’m hoping that by sharing this symbol, it will start to take off from there.

    I have a bunch of ideas swirling in my head, and I want it so badly to be perfect, but I need to take a leap of faith and then keep building on it. It’s hard for me to open up about these things and it’s a work in progress, but I just want to help people get through their struggles.

    In the future, I envision sharing ideas for things like trying to find yourself outside of your sport because, as athletes, we’re so ingrained in it. Who am I? Well I’m Polina, I’m a gymnast, and these are my accomplishments in gymnastics. But who am I outside of gymnastics? It’s learning to find different ways to be a person, and not an athlete. For example, it might be, go out and volunteer, walk your dog, or get coffee with friends and talk about anything besides sports.

    I have also thought about starting my own gym and combining it with mental health–possibly a psychology clinic–so my athletes can work with trusted clinicians. Having access to Athletic Counseling has been great, especially to my team. I feel like many people miss that opportunity growing up.

    Q: How can people get involved or in touch with FLY?
    I have a website in progress, which will start as a blog that people can write into.

    I’ll continue to work on it post-graduation either way, so hopefully I’ll keep finding more people who want to help and be involved. In the meantime, I think the most important thing is for athletes to speak up about their struggles.

    Six More Thoughts Bringing You Down (and How You Can Correct Them)

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    This is a follow-up article to Six Thoughts Bringing You Down (and How You Can Correct Them). Here are six more negative thoughts and ways they can be fixed.

    By Rachel Amity, MSW Candidate, U-M Athletic Counseling Team

    Have you ever caught yourself thinking about things in a way that makes you feel sad, frustrated, or less confident? Many of us slip into ways of thinking that make us feel unsure of our abilities. These types of thoughts are called cognitive distortions. They trick us into thinking and feeling that certain things are true, even if those thoughts and feelings aren’t supported by facts. Below is a list of some of the most common distortions, how they might be affecting your life, and what you can do about them.

    Cognitive Distortions Take Home Sheet (PDF)

    7. Emotional Reasoning

    You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are.

    Ex: You have been injured, so you’ve missed a couple of practices. You start telling yourself “I feel like a bad teammate, therefore I must be a bad teammate.”
    Ex: You feel lonely, so you deduce that no one cares about you.

    8. Should Statements

    You tell yourself that things should be the way you hoped or expected them to be. Sometimes, we apply “should,” “ought to,” or “must” to other people. The results are often frustrating.

    Ex: You tell yourself that you should be lifting more, you should be faster, or you should be able to manage your classes and practices better. In reality, you are getting good grades with the help of tutors, and your coaches are impressed by your determination during practices.
    Ex: You expect to get an A in the class you’re taking this semester because friends have told you it’s an easy A. You end up with an A-, which will still boost your GPA, but you are disappointed because you didn’t get the outcome you thought you should have gotten.

    9-10. Jumping to Conclusions & Fortune Telling

    You interpret things negatively when there are no facts to support your conclusion.

    You predict things will turn out badly, even if you have no real evidence for that prediction.

    Ex: Before a game you tell yourself “we’re going to lose,” or after an injury you tell yourself, “I’ll be out for the whole season now,” even though the doctor hasn’t told you their impression yet.
    Ex: After a job interview, you tell yourself “I’m not going to get the job.”

    11. Mind Reading

    Without checking it out, you arbitrarily conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you.

    Ex: A coach that you usually get along well with snapped at you today because they are having some issues at home, but you assume it is because they think you aren’t playing as well as you used to.
    Ex: You walk into class late, and assume everyone is looking at you, thinking about and judging you for your tardiness.

    12. Magical Thinking

    You believe that your own thoughts, wishes, or desires can influence the external world.

    Ex: You usually wear one of three pairs of socks for gameday, but you got a new pair this week. You wore them to the game this weekend and you lost, so you tell yourself that you lost because you wore different socks.
    Ex: You think things going wrong in your life will improve when you achieve some other goal. You will be happier when you lose weight or you will have more friends if you were smarter.

    What to do

    Did some of those sound familiar? Take a moment to reflect on the times that you may have found yourself thinking in these ways. Did it change your feelings, emotions, or ability to perform academically, socially, or physically? If so, you are not alone. These cognitive distortions are common, but in their more extreme forms, they can be harmful to our well being. Luckily, there are a few steps you can take to help recognize them and reduce the harm they cause.

    Notice your feelings.
    How are the thoughts going through your head making you feel? What emotion am I having? What did I notice in my body?

    Are the thoughts helpful?
    What are you responding to? What did those thoughts, images, or memories say about this situation?

    Search for evidence.
    What evidence do you have that supports the thought you’re having? What facts provide evidence against the unhelpful thoughts?

    Find alternatives
    What would someone else say about this situation? What advice would you give to someone else who was going through this? Is there another way to think about this?

    Distract
    Change your situation or do something to stop the thought. Recognizing that thoughts come and go, we can choose to pay attention and hold onto them, or to let them go. Sometimes by doing something different, it helps let go of the thought more quickly, and therefore, it will have less chance to impact the way you feel and perform.

    Additional Resources

    Athletes Connected Get Support Page

    U-M Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

    Campus Mind Works – U-M website supporting student mental health.

    Six Thoughts Bringing You Down (and How You Can Correct Them)

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    This is the first in a two-part resource article. The second part has six more thoughts.

    By Rachel Amity, MSW Candidate, U-M Athletic Counseling Team

    Have you ever caught yourself thinking about things in a way that makes you feel sad, frustrated, or less confident? Many of us slip into ways of thinking that make us feel unsure of our abilities. These types of thoughts are called cognitive distortions. They trick us into thinking and feeling that certain things are true, even if those thoughts and feelings aren’t supported by facts. Below is a list of some of the most common distortions, how they might be affecting your life, and what you can do about them.

    Cognitive Distortions Take Home Sheet (PDF)

    1. All-or-nothing thinking

    You see things in black-or-white categories. If a situation falls short of perfect, you see it as a total failure. Your performance was either totally good or totally bad.

    Ex: You lost the first set of a match, and now you tell yourself that the whole match is a lost cause, even though there is still time to win.
    Ex: You get a C on your midterm, higher than the average, but you expected to get an A. You can still get an A- in the class, but you see your midterm grade as a sign you have failed the course.

    2. Overgeneralization

    You see a single negative event, such as a match loss or an injury, as a never-ending pattern of defeat by using words such as “always” or “never” when you think about it.

    Ex: You go on a date and have a good time, but they don’t ask you on a second date. You then come to the conclusion that you will never find a partner or be in a relationship.
    Ex: You failed your last math exam, therefore you come to the conclusion that you will never be good at math.

    3. Catastrophizing and Minimization

    You exaggerate the importance of your problems and shortcomings, and/or you minimize the importance of your desirable qualities.

    Ex: You are worried you will fail your upcoming exam; you catastrophize this event and believe if you do fail, you will never be successful.
    Ex: As a senior, you want to be a leader for your team. However, you’ve been experiencing some pain during practices and feel you won’t be able to lead anymore if you get injured. You fail to see that your ability to communicate with your team will make you a valuable leader no matter what.

    4. Filtering

    You filter out and discount positive information, pick out a negative detail and dwell on it exclusively. In other words, you notice your failures, but don’t see your successes.

    Ex: You feel as though one of your friends has been upset with you because you haven’t been studying together every night like you did last month. However, you overlook the fact that they invited you to dinner and to watch a movie this weekend and they were happy to have you there.
    Ex: You usually submit your assignments on time, but you turned this assignment in late. You focus on this one instance as a sign that you are unable to keep up with course work.

    5. Personalization

    Personalization occurs when you hold yourself personally responsible for an event that isn’t entirely under your control, or when you blame other people for something that was (at least partially) your fault.

    Ex: You missed an extra point after a touchdown on Saturday, and the team lost – you can’t help but feel as though you would have won if you had just made that extra point, even though the whole team struggled; you begin to blame yourself for the loss.
    Ex: You have a group project in one of your classes this semester. You missed the last two group meetings because you wanted to catch up with friends and take a nap. Your group turned in the first part of the project last week, and you got a lower grade than you wanted. You blame your group members for the grade, even though you could have attended the meetings and contributed to the group more.

    6. Disqualifying the Positive

    You reject positive experiences by insisting they “don’t count.” If you do a good job, you may tell yourself that it wasn’t good enough or that anyone could have done as well.

    Ex: You’re lifting more during workouts. You ignore the strength and conditioning improvements because you still feel your game performance could be better.
    Ex: You have a presentation in class and you do you well enough to get an A on it. However, you discount this grade thinking that everyone else in the class probably got an A also, maybe even an A+, you just got lucky.

    Read Six More Thoughts Bringing You Down (and How You Can Correct Them).

    What to do

    Did some of those sound familiar? Take a moment to reflect on the times that you may have found yourself thinking in these ways. Did it change your feelings, emotions, or ability to perform academically, socially, or physically? If so, you are not alone. These cognitive distortions are common, but in their more extreme forms, they can be harmful to our well being. Luckily, there are a few steps you can take to help recognize them and reduce the harm they cause.

    Notice your feelings.
    How are the thoughts going through your head making you feel? What emotion am I having? What did I notice in my body?

    Are the thoughts helpful?
    What are you responding to? What did those thoughts, images, or memories say about this situation?

    Search for evidence.
    What evidence do you have that supports the thought you’re having? What facts provide evidence against the unhelpful thoughts?

    Find alternatives
    What would someone else say about this situation? What advice would you give to someone else who was going through this? Is there another way to think about this?

    Distract
    Change your situation or do something to stop the thought. Recognizing that thoughts come and go, we can choose to pay attention and hold onto them, or to let them go. Sometimes by doing something different, it helps let go of the thought more quickly, and therefore, it will have less chance to impact the way you feel and perform.

    Additional Resources

    Athletes Connected Get Support Page

    U-M Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

    Campus Mind Works – U-M website supporting student mental health

    The New Gameplan: How to Transition from High School to College

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    By Jevon Moore, Athletics Counseling Intern/Mental Health Outreach Coordinator

    Your coach yells, “Timeout!” and the ref immediately follows with a loud blow of the whistle. Your team gathers on the sideline with the coaches for one last time.

    There’s 1:48 on the clock and you get a shot of water and take a deep breath. Your coaches are all talking and pacing back and forth hoping you understand how important it is to be calm and to remember what you practiced. The whistle blows again and the other team slowly gathers back on the field.

    You have fought your way back into the game after a slow start and the momentum has begun to shift back to your team. You know it. Your team knows it. Every individual in the stands knows it. The entire crowd stands in anticipation for an exciting finish that will end in glory or hard fought defeat.

    The key to success is very similar to your path to athletic success; preparation and practice

    Everyone from your mailman to your dentist is in the crowd screaming their heads off in support. Your breathing is slow but your heart is pumping with a little extra thump as you prepare for the play to begin.

    A few quick memories run through your head as you find your spot. You start to remember those early mornings with the team, that diet you started, and of course that extra rep in the weight room; they all were for this moment. Will you channel all your preparation and beat back that voice in your head wondering if you have what it takes? Or do you fall victim to the moment and watch the other team dump ice on their coach’s head?

    Fast forward: Now you’re in college. You’ve made it. You are miles away from everything you knew so well back home and you started a new chapter in your life. This journey you’re on and all the hard work you did while in high school has given you the opportunity to play sports in college. So why do you feel lost and confused? This is everything you wanted and dreamed about, but now that you are here something doesn’t feel right.

    The coach that you were excited to work with doesn’t seem to get you. Your teammates are not as supportive and friendly as you imagined. The campus is way bigger than the pictures showed and your professors all seem to be speaking a foreign language in class. Things continue to move a little faster and before you get the chance to get comfortable with your surroundings you are hit with your first set of mid-terms. But wait, your coach is also telling you they will be testing everyone to determine your role on the team this week.  What just happened?

    You quietly sit on your bed and yearn for the good old days where your support network of family, friends, coaches, and teammates all knew how to get you out of a funk. But that’s in the past and you sit alone now in a dorm with a roommate you just met a month ago and you’re not sure who to talk to. Your chest is starting to get tight and your heart is thumping like the game is on the line. There is a thick cloud of fog in your head and the more you try to think of what to do the thicker the cloud gets.

    “Timeout!”

    Let’s take a Zac Morris break and get a handle on the situation. If you’re aren’t aware of Zac Morris and his life-pausing “timeouts” during the show Saved by the Bell, then do yourself a favor and add that to your binge watching list on the weekend. But seriously, there are some simple ways that you can get control of your life again.

    First, let’s get a feel for what’s different now that you’re playing a college sport:

    • New coaches with a range of varying coaching styles
    • New practice and training times that are a little more intense than high school
    • New teammates and personalities to navigate which make you wonder, “who can I trust?”

    This is completely normal. We have all been there. As a student-athlete, we have all walked on campus as a first-year athlete with our eyes wide open going from class to practice to study hall then to bed wondering where the day went. The key to success is very similar to your path to athletic success; preparation and practice. You learn the skills, practice them for mastery, and then trust in your training.

    So, let’s teach you a few skills.

    It Starts with Me
    Anxiety doesn’t always hit you from the side and knock you clean off your feet. It can sometimes just feel like a fog. No matter the degrees or amount of fog, take a second to recognize what is happening inside you. The key to making a big play is knowing when to make it. So take time to recognize the moments when your body is feeling weird. Jot down notes if you’re a list maker or just make a mental note. Either way, the better you get at identifying the feelings when they start, the faster and more efficient you can be at getting yourself back into prime form.

    Scheduled “Worry” Time
    Now that we know when we usually start worrying or have an idea of what causes our worry, let’s make time for it in our schedule. Set aside a block of time in your day to give in to the beast you have been fighting every day. See the trouble with anxiety is that it feels like a day long struggle but it’s probably only a few thoughts on repeat that keep bugging you. That’s why we set aside time to let it all pour in.

    Every negative thought that exists below the surface about being a new kid on campus. Every worry you have about not being able to keep up with school or compete with your new team needs to be explored. Once you have turned the flashlight on all the areas of that dark cave, we call anxiety, then start over. Set aside ten minutes, then worry for ten minutes straight with no shortcuts or relief. Once your time is up, climb your way out of that cave and let’s spend some time outside in the sun.

    Now That Feels Good
    We’ve just given into the worry and we want to move on with our day, but first let’s take some calming breaths to reset our mind and body. Just like at the end of a game you need a minute to relax in the locker room before facing the world and this breathing technique should give your body time to adjust. Before starting, make sure you are somewhere you can be comfortable and safe to close your eyes and relax.

    Distractions during this time can throw you off and make it hard for your body to fully relax. So put the phone in airplane mode or, if that hurts too much, lay it in another room. Get comfortable and let’s take a deep breath in through our nose counting to four slowly. Hold the air in your lungs for at least 4 seconds allowing the air to fill your lungs completely. Once you get to four, breathe out slowly counting to six to empty all of the air from your chest. Continue this cycle at least four times or until you can consciously feel your body release all that negativity.

    You should now be refreshed and to some degree prepared to take on your next challenge. If this isn’t the case try finding a quieter, more remote place to do your breaths. The key isn’t to rush through this, but instead to give in to it completely.

    There are more coping skills and resources for dealing with anxiety here just in case this didn’t do it for you. In any case, don’t fight with this alone. There are resources available that can help you find peace, and sometimes it takes an outside voice to talk our brain into complete buy-in.

    Remember, just like before the big moment when the game is on the line and everyone is watching, you took time to train and study and practice your skills. So don’t wait until your worries get out of control to test them out. Take time now, call a timeout, and make a plan. The more prepared you are for the moment the better you will perform.  

    About the Author
    Jevon Moore is an MSW candidate working as an intern with the Performance Psychology and Athletic Counseling team. In this role, Jevon works with the athletic counselors to assist in providing a full spectrum of care and services for student-athletes ranging from performance concerns to everyday emotional stressors. In addition to clinical care and support, Jevon consults with coaches and student-athlete support staff such as dieticians, academic counselors, doctors and trainers to ensure the most integrative care possible.

    Jevon is originally from North Carolina having played football at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. As an undergraduate student he majored in Industrial Engineering focusing on systems management and cost reduction practices. Read “Passion, purpose and a love story” to learn more about Jevon’s journey in helping mental health awareness and support.

    Additional Resources

    Six Tools to Help Fight College Freshman Depression

    Athletes Connected Get Support Page

    U-M Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

    Campus Mind Works – U-M website supporting student mental health