Addressing a Silent Crisis: Advocating for the Implementation of School-Based Mental Health Services for Student-Athletes in Secondary Education

In the last ten years, there has been an increase in anxiety, depression, and other mental health diagnoses among high school athletes (Ward et al., 2023). Although high school athletics may bring recognition and status to players, they can also have a negative impact on their mental well-being. Unfortunately, these athletes often do not receive sufficient mental health care, as we frequently see the manifestation of this among professional athletes in the public sphere through media coverage.

The purpose of this presentation is to raise awareness and educate clinical professionals, athletic associations, sports coaches, and parents about the distressing reality of the mental health consequences among student-athletes in secondary education. This research is motivated by the knowledge that there is a gap in providing care, research, and therapeutic intervention in mental health care for high school athletes. This presentation will focus on the key aspects of the three chapters: systematic literature review, conceptual papers, and practice application papers.

It will include the latest research on this crisis and provide evidence-based theories and interventions to address this silent crisis. Now is the moment to break the silence and advocate for student-athletes in secondary education, enabling them to reach their full mental and physical potential in their athletic endeavors and life.

Ward, T., Stead, T., Mangal, R., Ganti, L. (2023). Prevalence of stress amongst high school athletes. Health Psychology Research (2). https://doi.org/10.52965/001c.70167