Last Updated on February 18, 2020 by
The Detroit Free Press had an in-depth feature written on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, about mental health and suicide in athletics and how it might affect schools in Michigan. Athletes Connected’s Will Heininger was featured prominently as were administrators from other Michigan colleges and the NCAA’s chief medical officer Brian Hainline.
By Jeff Seidel
Too many people are struggling in silence, dealing with depression and anxiety, living in darkness, unsure what is wrong or how to get help.
Too many young adults are killing themselves: Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students.
Zachary Winston brought it back into the national spotlight when he died by suicide at Albion College.
Today, the Free Press is taking an in-depth look at college athletics and mental health, using sports to shed light on a national crisis. The Free Press found a wide disparity in how Michigan colleges handle mental health issues, and athletic administrators at several schools admitted they fear they aren’t doing enough. These administrators should be commended for their honesty because it is time to talk openly about this issue — to talk about what is working, as well as what is not. This isn’t about casting blame or pointing fingers, it’s about trying to isolate problems and highlight solutions. The stigma has to be broken. And it starts with education and unvarnished openness.
This isn’t an athletic issue. It’s a societal issue. Too many counseling centers are underfunded and understaffed. Too many don’t take this seriously until there is a crisis. And it’s too hard to get mental health care.
We must get to the point where an athlete going for mental health treatment is no different than getting treatment for a sprained ankle.
But it’s not just athletes, of course.
It’s all of us.
Here was a college football player, stuck in the shadows of his own mind, on the brink of a tragedy. His thoughts kept racing, obsessing about death and dying, unsure what was wrong or how to make it stop.
This isn’t an athletic issue. It’s a societal issue. Too many counseling centers are underfunded and understaffed. Too many don’t take this seriously until there is a crisis. And it’s too hard to get mental health care.
“I was in a dark place,” former Michigan football player Will Heininger said. “The days felt miserable and long. I had racing thoughts, all day, every day, every 5 seconds.”
Heininger had just finished his freshman year at Michigan in 2008. He felt alone and didn’t know where to get help. He could have been any athlete, at any school. Research shows that about 30% of all college athletes experience depression, according to the NCAA.
“I couldn’t imagine living another 50 years like that, let alone another year,” Heininger said.
Here was a small college on the cusp of a tragedy. It could have been any college, at any level.
Before Winston died by suicide, the subject of how to handle athletes experiencing mental health issues was raised at an Albion College athletic department staff meeting, according to a coach in the room.
It is a topic that all colleges, not just the athletic departments, are wrestling with: one out of every eight college students (13.3%) makes a suicide plan, according to National College Health Assessment. Research shows that 65.7% felt overwhelming anxiety and 45.1% felt so depressed that it was difficult to function, according to NCHA.
Read the rest of the story on freep.com.