Mental Health and Running

Shin splints, factures, and sprains – what do all of these things have in common? Besides being some of the most common injuries in running, they are all physical problems. Unfortunately, when we think of injuries or illnesses that effect runners or even any athlete, they are always physical.

However, these are not the only kind of problems that effect athletes. There are an extremely large proportion of young athletes that are struggling with some form of a mental illness. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illnesses, “One in four young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have a diagnosable mental illness.” This statistic is especially frightening for college athletes, who are experiencing so many new changes in life. When you add up the stresses of athletics, classes, and being away from home it can set a person over the edge.

If this is not enough evidence, take the story of nineteen-year-old Madison Holloran, who was a freshman runner for the cross-country and track teams at Pennsylvania University into consideration. This young runner was the former state champion in the 800 meter run in high school, had a 3.5 GPA her first semester of college, and even placed 69^th at the regional cross-country meet for the University of Pennsylvania.

Despite her success, she was still having feelings of self-harm and eventually ended up jumping to her death off a parking garage, committing suicide. In an interview with Inquisitor.com, Madison’s mom claimed, “I knew she needed a therapist, but I couldn’t get her an appointment because it was the weekend.”

When an athlete gets hurt there is always a trainer right by their side; but what support are we providing for athletes who are suffering from a mental illness? It seems that athletic departments do not handle psychological concerns the same way they do physical concerns. According to Nicole Noren’s article Taking Notice of The Hidden Injury, “at many schools, mental health resources are downright sparse when compared to those dedicated to the physical health of the athletes [and] many athletic programs have medical staffs of more than a dozen people, yet fewer than 25 Division I athletic departments have a full-time licensed mental health practitioner on staff.”

Considering the revenue that college athletes bring to their university and the NCAA, these organizations should be taking better care of their athletes. The fact that we are cutting psychological resources is a huge problem since suicide now ranks as the third leading cause of death for young adults. How many more deaths will it take for these organizations to realize this is a problem? It seems this issue is in our hands. It is time to take a stand and protect our athletes.