In My Feelings: Division I Student-Athlete Seeking Mental Health Support

Division I student-athletes navigate tensions between athletic performance and academic obligations against their own private experiences. These various challenges specific to student-athletes potentially result in various mental health challenges, which athletic departments and their staff struggle to address. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of traditional undergraduate student-athletes navigating mental health and related support services. This qualitative study found that student-athletes seek informal support for a variety of mental health issues in which they describe a fear of stigma, vulnerability, or “weakness” as nonacceptance of professional counseling. Implications for practice encompass suggestions for increased support of student-athlete mental health, including educational programming and collaborative efforts with university counseling services.