Women’s hockey player starts UBC mental health website
Thunderbird Ogrodniczuk aims to dispel idea that seeking help is sign of weakness
As tributes go, Mikayla Ogrodniczuk’s for Laura Taylor is a powerful one, in that it can kick off conversations that many of us have difficulty starting.
Ogrodniczuk, who plays defence on the university ’s women’s hockey team, has spearheaded the development of the UBC Thunderbirds Mental Health Hub, a website designed to help athletes in particular find resources to deal with depression and other similar issues.
Taylor was a goalie on her team. She committed suicide April 7, 2016, just days before her 34th birthday. Most of the UBC players later learned that Taylor, a medical student, had been dealing with bipolar disorder and depression.
“It took a long time to come to terms with it,” said Ogrodniczuk. “As an athlete, it’s never something you think about — your teammate will be sitting in her stall beside you one day and then not the next. Then it took me a while to come up with an idea that I thought would be impactful.
“I hope Laura would appreciate what’s been done. I hope that she’d be proud.”
On its front page, the website states: “When we’re dealing with a medical condition like depression or anxiety, toughing it out does NOT help us get better. The good news is that help is available.”
There are links to support resources. There also links to stories about Olympic-level athletes like Aussie swimmer Ian Thorpe, who admits that his success at times brought “a sense of guilt for not feeling on top of the world when you really should be,” and Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden, who maintains that “I’ve had plenty of ups-and-downs in my life. Some were related to my sport, but many weren’t. Often times when I’m at my lowest, I have no explanation at all.”
“It needs to start with team culture, and it needs to start from the top down, beginning with the administrative staff and coaches,” said Ogrodniczuk.
“It needs to be addressed from Day 1 that seeing a counsellor is no different than seeing a physio. You need to let people know that they can seek help and be supported rather than trying to tough it out on their own. There’s where the idea of mental toughness and mental wellness gets blurred.
“There’s a big stigma with mental health, and especially in the student-athlete population. You are at a great university. You are expected to perform in your sport and in the classroom. You are expected to take part in the community. People see dealing with a mental health issue as a weakness.”
She had a well-versed sounding board at home for this project. She’s the daughter of Dr. John Ogrodniczuk, whose many titles include director of the University of B.C.’s psychotherapy program and founder of HeadsUpGuys, which is a website that promotes men’s mental health.
He was part of the development team for the UBC Thunderbirds Mental Health Hub, along with mental-health advocate Joshua Berry of HeadsUpGuys, Dr. David Kealy of UBC’s psychotherapy program and UBC faculty of education doctor of philosophy candidate Zarina Giannone.
Ogrodniczuk, a kinesiology student who plans to study medicine down the line, was an academic all-Canadian in 2016-17. She received the Canada West women’s hockey Student-Athlete Community Service award in February for the website.
A few weeks ago, she was on the University of Manitoba radio’s hockey show talking about the website and she’s heard from representatives from both Simon Fraser University and UBC’s Okanagan Campus about sharing what they’ve learned so far.
“I think it’s important to make people aware of our story and why we feel so strongly about it,” she said. “I want to make sure that everyone at UBC is aware of the website, but especially our student-athlete population ... because I think it’s applicable to all student-athletes, regardless of sport or organization or age. And, I’d like to make sure all Canadian student-athletes know about it. I’d love to see it grow throughout the entire country.”
The 5-foot-5 Ogrodniczuk finished her third year of eligibility with UBC this past season. She had no goals and two points in 28 regular-season games, and then no points in four playoff matchups.