Mental health has become an important fixture in elite athlete training in the United States. High schools, colleges, universities, amateur organizations, and professional leagues have all invested in protecting and bolstering the mental wellness of the youth, men, and women that drive their respective programs. But one group in elite athletics that often gets overlooked is the coaching staff. Kindbridge is here to change that. Below is a breakdown of why individual coaches and athletic programs are encouraged to better invest in support from providers with expertise in counseling this sect of competitive sports.
Importance of Mental Health “Training” and Support for Coaches Involved in Elite Athletics
1. A Professional Lifetime of Pressure
Coaches are individuals who athletes, players, and even organizational stakeholders look to for leadership, guidance, and support. While it’s part of their job description, they face an enormous amount of pressure to manage multiple personalities and egos through their careers. Remember, an average elite athlete has a professional career of less than 10 years, while a coach is in the game for decades. They may change teams, but their career is one that spans a professional lifetime. They’re pressured to not only inspire athletes and bring out their best possible performances, but to consistently achieve playoff success for their programs. This is a heavy cross to bear. It should therefore come as no surprise to find that elite-level coaches have significantly higher scores for mental health concerns. We discuss this further below.
2. Mental Health Issues in Elite Level Coaches
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports the following rates of mental health problems among elite-level coaches:
14% to 44% for Depression
40% to 44% for Anxiety
19% to 48% for Alcohol Abuse
These ranges can vary with the presence of risk factors that may contribute toward mental health challenges, such as a familial history of mood disorders and a background of adopting ineffective coping strategies (more on this below).
3. Vulnerabilities of Coaches Who Were Athletes
In many leagues and programs, former elite athletes transition into elite-level coaching roles. It’s more common in some leagues and organizations that others. For instance, Major League Baseball has an overwhelming majority of managers who were former MLB players, with 221 of them serving in a dual capacity as a player-manager at the same time. Meanwhile, 25 National Basketball Association Hall of Fame players became NBA coaches. Just last season JJ Redick became the 16th former NBA player to be a head coach without any previous coaching experience. And if not in the same league, former professional athletes may move into elite-level coaching roles in the NCAA, such has been the case with the NBA’s Hubert Davis (North Carolina Tar Heels), Anfernee Hardaway (Memphis Tigers), Juwan Howard (Michigan Wolverines), and Jerry Stackhouse (Vanderbilt Commodores).
As former athletes, coaches may not only bring with them knowledge, experience, and skill, but the baggage of mental health concerns that elite athletes are known to be predisposed to. These include anxiety, stress, depression, substance abuse disorders, and eating disorders. This may help explain the high range of anxiety, stress, and depression referenced in section 2 above. In addition, these mental health struggles are known to cooccur with compulsive behaviors that coaches may use as ineffective coping strategies (also addressed in section 2). If left unchecked, these unhealthy coping strategies may manifest as the following:
4. Coaches Are Also Subject to Abuse
Athlete abuse by angry gamblers has become a concerning trend that has grown with the map of U.S. states with legal sports betting. Coaches are sharing this very same burden. Last year, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff announced that he and his family were being threatened by disgruntled sports bettors, and that the problem was getting out of hand across the league. Abuse and harassment take a toll on mental health, which further validates the need for greater investment in support for coaching staff.
5. A Healthier Coach is Healthier for Players
“Coaches’ central focus is to produce competent and successful athletes and to elicit strong performances. In addition to promoting athletic performance, part of coaching involves fostering the psychological well-being of athletes and ensuring that they are mentally healthy. Coaches act as navigators and have the significant responsibility of noticing changes in their athletes’ mental state and behavior. As navigators, they should be able to direct athletes to obtain appropriate support. Coaches ought to create a destigmatizing environment and promote positive attitudes toward seeking mental health treatment.” (Sage Journals)
The above quote sums up the modern role of a coach extremely well. A coach who is more mentally fit and has personal experience with counseling will be better qualified to be the figurehead that his/her athletes need.
6. Develop a Winning Mindset
Lastly, we look to mental health support for coaches not just as a protective/preventative measure against potential harms, but as a means to optimize and enhance performance.
While we looked at attributes coaches may have that could challenge their mental wellness, we must also look at characteristics evident in those who find success in their field. Science Direct reports on a body of research which shows that successful coaches (playoff contenders and champions) demonstrate a recognizable set of dominant traits. These include the following:
- Low levels of neuroticism
- High levels of conscientiousness
- High levels of extraversion
- Optimism
- Agreeableness
In order to support and/or develop these traits and subsequently garner success, coaches and their support staff must be more mindful of where they fall short. From there they can lean upon the guidance of a counselor who can bring forth attitudes and behaviors that are requisite to success. In doing so, they will be enabled to deal with stress in an adaptive manner, focus on problem-solving, and control negative feelings such as anger and frustration in an elite sporting environment. At this point, a coach will enjoy an improved mindset that will serve them well in motivating individual athletes and teams who look to them for guidance.
Kindbridge Behavioral Health works with professional and amateur athletes and coaches from notable sports organizations throughout the United States (see below). We are ready for your call to seek support for anything you may be struggling with and/or to talk about how our programs can help optimize coaching performance. At the very least you can benefit from improved emotional and behavioral wellness. As far as the rest is concerned, you may need to make more space in your trophy case. Reach out via the contacts provided below.
Who we collaborate with:
Improve Mental Health and Optimize Your Performance as a Coach
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