Mental health education ‘critical’ for players
Flames view education as ‘critical’ step in player development
When Tyler Parsons called Brad Treliving in a state of panic this summer, he was terrified. Scared of being judged. Scared of letting down his employers.
And, most of all, scared of threatening his dream of becoming a National Hockey League goaltender.
But instead of avoiding the topic altogether, refusing to admit that he was suffering from anger, anxiety, depression and some severe mental health struggles, and — worst of all — not talking to anyone about it, the Calgary Flames prospect took a risk.
And that perceived “risk” is all too familiar.
“A player’s career is an average of less than five years,” explained Mathieu Schneider, a former NHLer and the National Hockey League Players’ Association special assistant to the executive director. “You have one or two contracts in you as a professional athlete, on average. Players feel like they jeopardize that opportunity they’ve worked their entire lives for if there’s some type of stigma associated with them. And, up until recently, there has been. I don’t think anyone can dispute that. It’s no more complicated than that.”
The conversation, they hope, is changing.
When Parsons approached the general manager of the Calgary Flames prior to the team’s development camp in July, explaining his debilitating situation — including thoughts of suicide (which, unfortunately, affects 4,000 Canadians each year who take their own lives, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association) — it opened door of communication.
How does anyone know anyone’s struggles if they don’t talk about them? Hockey players — professional athletes — are conditioned mostly to “push through,” to “get over it.” Parsons, growing up in Chesterfield, Mich., never thought about mental health when he was younger, never had experienced issues and didn’t understand it.
But like several NHLers recently who have made themselves vulnerable and came forward about their challenges, he spoke up.
“There’s a commonality when we’ve dealt with these issues,” Treliving said. “There’s an anxiety … What does this mean? How will it affect my career? If you think about it, young Tyler Parsons is doing all he can to be an NHL player and he’s phoning his boss to say, ‘Hey, I’m dealing with some stuff.’ I can’t imagine. That’s why I said to him, ‘That’s the strongest thing anybody can do.’ When someone says, ‘Hey, I need help with something and I’m struggling,’ that’s a show of strength. It’s showing that you need help with something. And we all do. I applaud that. I think it’s a show of strength, it’s a show of courage.”
“You want, No. 1, to eliminate that anxiety. We don’t think anything less of you and we’re here to help. We’ve gone past those days where there should be any stigma attached. It’s all relating to your health. And how do we help and how do we make you better?”
The Flames have an in-house procedure and employ resources for these kinds of issues; no two are identical, explains Treliving. There’s their medical staff, mental performance coach Matt Brown, clinical psychologists, and director of player assistance Brian McGrattan who are available for conversations and assistance once a plan is put in place.
Mental health also falls under the NHLPA/NHLA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health (SABH) Program, a joint program which was started in 1996 between the PA and league that provides players with ongoing assistance in their daily lives. All details of a player’s involvement and treatment in the program are confidential and all players have access to confidential counselling through the joint SABH program.
A network of professional counsellors are available in each NHL city, and the players are put in contact with the professionals who specialize in the specific area they are seeking help in. The program has a 1-800 number that players can call confidentially to get help; it’s available to them 24/7. The program doctors also meet with each team every season to provide them with information on the program; all information on the program is also available to the players on the NHLPA’s intranet website.
The program always has been available to NHLers. And many have spoken up about their struggles. But the shift Schneider is seeing is how the 31 NHL teams are approaching mental health issues, given that many former players now are employed by clubs that are able to address issues more recognizable to someone who has been in their shoes.
Schneider says the NHL finally is realizing how crucial mental health can be for the longevity of players’ careers and performance on daily basis.
“I think the clubs now — and you’ve got a glimpse of that in Calgary, and I’ve had these conversations with my friends that are general managers and assistant general managers — it actually enhances the player’s performance if they have a free and clear mind to deal with their issues, whatever they are, in a controlled environment,” he said. “It makes them better players on the ice. Clubs are finally realizing that.
“In the end, it has been this overall shift and acceptance in society of mental health issues that we see and read about every day … players that have come forward recently have been, in my opinion and the NHLPA’s, extremely brave.”
Education, for them, is No. 1. The Flames feel the same way. Treliving emphasized the importance of listening, observing, communicating, relationship-building within their organization, building trust and educating themselves to have a deeper awareness as an NHL organization of how symptoms present themselves.
He explains that mental health issues should be treated no differently than having a knee issue or a sore shoulder which affects performance — a player should be encouraged to come forward if something isn’t quite right.
“And, in a lot of ways, it’s much more serious,” Treliving said. “I’ve said it to our guys, I’ve said it to our staff, ‘This is a real critical area.’ You look at all the things you do and try to improve upon. You look back and there was a time there was one coach. Then we added a bunch of coaches. Then video became a big thing. Now we’ve all got video coaches. We haven’t maxed out in the strength and con- ditioning, sport performance but the steps we’ve been taking over the last 10 to 15 years, you’ve gone from one strength coach to sport science teams.
“This, to me, is the next thing we’ve really got to get a handle on is mental health.”
In his mind, it’s the next stage of player development.
“That’s the approach we have to take,” he said. “The days of leaving it behind closed doors, I don’t think that makes any sense. Twenty-five years ago, guys would come to camp to get into shape and then we said, ‘OK, we’ve got to get guys in better shape. Let’s test them and pay attention to that.’ As an industry, you’re always looking for the next thing. But these guys are finely tuned athletes. Now, to me, it’s paying attention to the mental health side.
“The symptoms, the signs, not everyone is the same. It may present itself differently in different people but you have to have an awareness …. pay attention to your people. Sometimes they don’t show you the signs but a lot of times, they do. You have to make sure you reinforce every day that they have an ear here.”
And it’s exactly what Parsons received when he made the call to Treliving, explaining why he would be missing development camp. He’d hit a breaking point, following a complicated first season of professional hockey which saw him sustain injuries — including a concussion — as he toiled between Kansas City of the ECHL and the Stockton Heat/AHL.
Instead of judging, like he’d originally feared — the feeling that prevents many athletes from speaking up — the Flames provided support, flying him and his mom Kim to Calgary to continue the conversation and offer him the help he needed.
“I felt so different than I ever had in my entire life,” explained Parsons, who is currently tending twine with the Flames’ farm club in Stockton, Calif. “It wasn’t me at all. I was completely the opposite of who I am now. I was almost scared because I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I thought I was crazy. People need to understand, once you feel those things, you’re not tough if you hold in your emotions when you feel that way.
“Being tough is finding and getting the help you need and making yourself into the best person you can be and getting that treatment, trying to get back to 100 per cent.”
And the first step is speaking up.
It actually enhances the player’s performance if they have a free and clear mind to deal with their issues ... in a controlled environment