Hear what our students have to say:
“It was so nice to connect with other athletes and talk about what we’re all going through. SOAR really helps me feel more comfortable talking about my challenges and allows me to be more open and honest with my thoughts. It’s cool to be able to finally have an outlet that seems so real, and not worrying about who might know how I am dealing with things.”
voice their personal issues and seek out assistance to help with their problems. Available resources are plentiful at most institutions, but the utilization of these resources remains very low. Student-athletes don’t want to be seen from the outside as looking vulnerable or weak because they are having issues related to stress, anxiety, and depression. This results in many individuals being hesitant to seek out help or talk about their issues, thus choosing instead to deal with their challenges alone internally.
facility on their campus. Yet, less than half of the survey participants said that they would feel comfortable visiting or seeking support from a mental health provider on campus. The outside perception of student-athletes is that they get special treatment and are lucky to have access to everything they could ever need: a full scholarship to school, new apparel, team provided meals, easy access to tutors and other resources, and the ability to say that they are a collegiate athlete. Because of this, there is an invisible barrier among student-athletes to
Pushing mental health issues to the side and attempting to deal with them internally only leads to further mental strain, which can lead to severe symptoms and consequences as a result.
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