College athletes pushing mental health to forefront

Cailin Bracken arrived at Vanderbilt to play lacrosse already well aware of the importance of athlete mental health.

She knew of at least two female college athletes, including one from near where she grew up, who had taken their own lives.

Bracken was overwhelmed by college life, especially when she had to isolate upon testing positive for COVID-19 after just a few days on campus. She decided to leave the team.

“I was so self-aware. I was just so trusting of my intuition in a way, and it sounds cliche, but the idea that I’m like, I need to go home even if it doesn’t feel like the right decision to make in terms of my career path or my reputation or whatever else,” she said. “... I felt when I got to college, like my nervous system was deregulated. I couldn’t process anything. I constantly felt overwhelmed. I never felt safe.”

Then came the first death of at least five college athletes — Stanford soccer goalkeeper Katie Meyer — all of whom took their own lives this spring.

It sparked concerns that colleges were not doing enough for some of their higher-profile students.

Bracken wrote an open letter to college sports, calling on coaches and administrators to become more cognizant of the challenges athletes face in navigating not only their competitive side, but also their social and academic responsibilities.

It isn’t clear whether U.S. college athletes are taking their lives at a higher rate than others in their age range; the NCAA declined to share with The Associated Press whether it tracks athlete suicides. But universities are starting to pay closer attention to the mental health of their athletes — in varying degrees — and it’s partly because athletes are advocating for themselves and their teammates.

“Mental health support has to be treated just like academic support and injury prevention and injuries,” said Michael Mominey, the athletic director at Nova Southeastern.

For many schools, the focus began before the pandemic. That includes James Madison, where sophomore softball player Lauren Bernett took her life on April 25.