Goalkeeper Robin Lehner stares down a shot from an opposing player during his time with the Ottawa Senators. Lehner spoke openly on Sept. 13 about his troubles with mental health and the procedures the National Hockey League used to approach it (Courtesy of creative commons).
Mental disorders are being diagnosed more frequently and the sports world is not exempt from it. Most of the time when people discuss the health of athletes, they focus on physical injuries and ignore their mental health.
Robin Lehner, a professional goaltender in the National Hockey League, opened up about how he dealt with bipolar disorder and alcoholism in an essay in The Athletic on Sept. 13. In his statement, Lehner discussed what procedures the NHL had in place for players with mental health issues. The current NHL protocol should raise concerns.
When any player gets hit in the head, trained medical staff perform mandated concussion tests. This rule is well-known because it is in the public’s eye whereas mental health issues are most likely to be kept under wraps within the organization.
The NHL has a system in which any player can have access to a Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program in a confidential session for the player and psychologist to talk about their problems, according to The Globe and Mail. Even with this program, mental health is not as well publicized as it should be.
To better protect and help their players, teams should mandate reporting of mental health issues. Most people do not willingly talk about their struggles but those who do seek help early can be provided help.
An athlete’s mental health is vital to success in their respective sport, so it should be the most protected area of their body. Specifically, goalies have to battle their mind the most of all.
A goalie’s hand-eye coordination must be sharp, and their mind must be cleared to focus on the game. If the NHL implemented better mental health reporting rules, players with potential mental health issues could be diagnosed properly and saved from falling deeper into other issues.
Unfortunately, hockey is not the only sport that poorly addresses mental health. Trey Burton, a professional tight end player in the National Football League, recently opened up about his struggle with anxiety in an August blog post for The Increase.
The NFL differs from the NHL because it has more rules and systems in place to support players. Another way in which the NFL helps to battle player mental problems is that they help rookies with their transition into the NFL with counselors and resources, according to NFL.com.
Physical and mental health go hand in hand when it comes to the head because physical damage can lead to worse issues later in life. The importance placed on protecting player’s heads is a great step toward dealing with mental health, but it is not enough.
The best thing that can happen is to have more thorough checks done during the athletes’ medical checks after a hit to the head so that any serious damage can be diagnosed early.
Mental health is an important topic in sports that has not received proper attention because it is not visible to most people. Organizations like the NHL should help draw more attention to and bring to light mental health so that players feel more comfortable coming out in the open and talking about their mental health.
Once more players do so and the league supports them, there will be greater leaps toward helping athletes reconcile with their problems and overcoming their issues.