Mantra Health and NAIA Survey Reveals College Athletic Directors Need Better Support to Address Student-Athlete Mental Health Crisis

• 92% of athletic departments want psychiatric services included in their athletic programs
• The #1 resource college athletic depts wish they had is mental health training for coaches & directors
• Mantra Health releases an additional guide that describes barriers preventing student-athletes from accessing mental health care and recommendations from leading experts like Toronto Raptors' Dir. of Wellness

NEW YORK and KANSAS CITY, Miss., July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A joint survey conducted by Mantra Health, the preeminent digital mental health clinic for young adults, and The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) revealed college athletic directors are currently lacking the appropriate training and services needed to address the student-athlete mental health crisis effectively. An overwhelming majority (92%) of athletic staff reported they don't have but want psychiatric services available in their athletic programs to support students, and 44% rated their college's mental health resources as "average."

The 2022 Mantra Health and NAIA Student-Athlete Mental Health Survey had over 50 NAIA members (including 39 athletic directors) participate during May 2022. While many athletic departments recognize the need for more mental health resources, services, and support, there is no clear direction for developing or implementing them effectively. This survey identifies the resources college athletic departments need most and how they can build and deploy mental health best practices.

• According to respondents, the top 3 factors impacting student-athletes' mental health are: balancing academic and athletic responsibilities (92%), interpersonal relationships (82%) and financial security (77%).
• The #1 resource (90%) athletic departments wish they had is mental health training for coaches and directors.
• 70% of athletic departments wish they had a sports psychologist or therapist in their athletic program.
• 48% of athletic department staff reported academic success as their top priority regarding student mental health, while 44% reported student retention as their primary concern.

"With all the stressors that come with juggling school work, social life, and a demanding athletics career, it is important that our institutions are able to protect and prioritize the mental health and wellbeing of our student-athletes," said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr. "We want to thoroughly understand the services and resources that can help our student-athletes, and the findings of this survey are a great step in giving us this insight."

"In addition to the normal stressors of college life, student-athletes face a lot of pressure to perform in sports and academics, all while balancing interpersonal relationships and personal responsibilities," said Dr. Liz Jodoin, Mantra Health Clinical Solutions Consultant. "We've also seen that student-athletes are less likely to seek help than non-athletes since many have been conditioned to play through physical, emotional, and psychological pain. As a result, this has contributed, in part, to higher rates of stress, anxiety, depression, and in many cases, has exacerbated pre-existing mental health conditions."

Maintaining a strong, collaborative team of high-performing athletes is a top priority for coaches and athletic directors, even in solo sports. When one or two teammates cannot perform due to a physical injury, it can significantly impact the team as a whole – and the same is true for a mental health issue. However, the difference is that mental health conditions are invisible, making them easier to hide, and harder to identify, diagnose, and treat.

"Elite athletes like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka have recently stepped forward to share their personal experiences with mental health issues," said Ed Gaussen, Co-Founder and CEO of Mantra Health. "While this is spreading awareness for student-athlete mental health, the larger initiative Mantra and NAIA are trying to tackle is to change the culture in athletics. Our goal is to help athletic departments build robust mental health practices, which will take time, research and collaboration. This will also have the greatest chance of addressing student-athletes' specific needs and improving their mental health in the long-term."

In addition to the survey, today Mantra released Taking a Team Approach to Mental Health, a best practices guide for collegiate athletic departments. In this guide, athletics directors and mental health professionals address the barriers preventing student-athletes from accessing quality mental health care and offer recommendations for transforming athletic departments to support student-athlete mental wellness better.

• To download the 2022 Mantra Health and NAIA Student-Athlete Mental Health Survey click here.
• To download Taking a Team Approach to Mental Health click here.

To learn about Mantra Health's student-athlete mental health services, please contact [email protected] or visit mantrahealth.com.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics. NAIA members provide more than 77,000 student-athletes with opportunities to play college sports, earn $800 million in scholarships and compete in 27 national championships. naia.org | @NAIA

Brad Cygan
Director of Athletics Communications
[email protected]
O: 816.595.8119 | M: 618.210.4518

Mantra Health is a digital mental health clinic on a mission to improve access to evidence-based mental healthcare for young adults. Through augmenting high-quality clinical services with software and design, we aim to improve the mental health of over 20 million university and college students through partnerships with higher education institutions and health insurance plans. The Mantra program has been deployed across 50+ campuses with over 500,000 students including Penn State, MIT, Cornell, and Miami Dade College.

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SOURCE Mantra Health