University of North Texas Athletics
Dear Swimming
10/10/2018 1:06:00 PM | Swimming and Diving
DENTON – When North Texas swimming & diving head coach Brittany Roth asked her student-athletes to write a letter to the sport as if it were a person, the reactions were all over the map.
"At first, I thought it was silly. Another writing assignment," senior Kathleen Rousset said.
"I looked forward to writing a reflective piece that I could tell the story of the abnormal life I currently live," senior Emmabeth Jensen said.
"I thought it was just busy work and I felt like I had more important things to worry about in school," senior Meaghan Rousset said.
It wasn't until they poured their feelings into the assignment and shared or listened to their teammates' letters that a bigger issue was uncovered.
"I had been seeing our sports psychologist and we've talked about these things, but writing them out made it seem a little more real," Kathleen Rousset said. "Reading it was even bigger, because the words came from myself. It made me realize what has been happening for so long."
Since 2001, the UNT Center for Sport Psychology has partnered with North Texas athletics, and each of the Mean Green's 12 sports is assigned a sport-psychology consultant to provide performance training and mental-health care.
"They were always very supportive and provided me with mental exercises to help improve my self-confidence and self-talk before and after racing," Meaghan Rousset said. "At first I was hesitant to talk, but it was nice to have that support and know that it was okay to work through these mental challenges with someone else."
A team of researchers led by Andrew Wolanin and Eugene Hong spent three years monitoring mood levels of student-athletes and found that 6.3 percent met the criteria for clinical depression and 24 percent were considered "clinically relevant," a concerning level but not enough to warrant a diagnosis.
According to UNT Center for Sport Psychology director Dr. Trent Petrie, if you include anxiety and substance abuse, one in two student-athletes will deal with some mental health issue in their time on campus.
While the assignment wasn't designed to induce epiphanies of mental-health struggles, it helped a lot of student-athletes shed light on their issues. Even though she procrastinated a bit, once Kathleen began to punch the keys on her laptop, the flood gates opened and she got lost in the realizations.
"It all poured out. It was easy to talk about and it felt good to get it off my chest. I can't speak for everyone else, but investing in it made a difference for me."
While everyone had the option to share it in their team meeting, she chose not to, but she had a change of heart after seeing an article from a friend and a rower at Texas about her mental health problems as a student-athlete.
"It inspired me to reach out to do the same and help other people."
Jensen also had no intentions of sharing her letter but, after reading the letter to her parents, realized that her words could have an impact on others. She even went as far as to post it to social media.
"I wanted to invite my friends and family into my life and reveal the struggles and triumphs I experience both big and small, and in and out of the pool," Jensen said.
It can be difficult for international student-athletes such as Jensen, a native of Auckland, New Zealand, to find a support staff for her mental health. However, she was matched with a host family when she came to her international orientation, and they have played a vital role in her life in America.
"My American family has not only opened their home to me, shown me their love in sharing their own family – and a lot of food – but also been a spiritual support system," Jensen said. "They provide a safe place when I let the pressure of my studies, friendships and sporting performance weigh me down."
After hearing those who opted to share, the team found out they're not so different in their struggles and it created a stronger bond.
"If we're struggling together, we can reach the same goals together," Kathleen Rousset said. "Getting down to what's bothering us can really help all of us pull each other up together to reach those goals."
In the somewhat individualized sport of swimming that is driven by solo performances, student-athletes can get lost in personal expectations and goal times.
"It's different compared to more team-oriented sports," Meaghan Rousset said. "There's pressure to perform well for ourselves and the team. It's really easy for me to evaluate how I do based on something concrete like times. We all have high expectations and not performing to those is a challenging experience."
Perhaps the biggest issue surrounding mental health around student-athletes is the stigma, because no one wants to appear weak, especially an athlete.
"You forget that everyone deals with these same things," Kathleen Rousset said. "Even if they seem minor, if they affect you in a negative way, they can become bigger problems later."
And the first step to prevent those problems from ballooning is to talk or to break out your laptop and write out your feelings in a letter.
"I hope that each person takes the time to invest in their mental health and seek out resources that suits them best," Jensen said. "Looking after your mental health is as important as performing as an athlete. You won't be able to have good results unless you invest in the process."
"Don't be afraid to talk about what's going on," Kathleen Rousset said. "Everyone deals with these problems. It can only help to reach out to someone. Keep on pushing through and stay positive. It's okay to be upset. Know how to be kind to yourself. Be comfortable with who you are."
"At first, I thought it was silly. Another writing assignment," senior Kathleen Rousset said.
"I looked forward to writing a reflective piece that I could tell the story of the abnormal life I currently live," senior Emmabeth Jensen said.
"I thought it was just busy work and I felt like I had more important things to worry about in school," senior Meaghan Rousset said.
It wasn't until they poured their feelings into the assignment and shared or listened to their teammates' letters that a bigger issue was uncovered.
"I had been seeing our sports psychologist and we've talked about these things, but writing them out made it seem a little more real," Kathleen Rousset said. "Reading it was even bigger, because the words came from myself. It made me realize what has been happening for so long."
Since 2001, the UNT Center for Sport Psychology has partnered with North Texas athletics, and each of the Mean Green's 12 sports is assigned a sport-psychology consultant to provide performance training and mental-health care.
"They were always very supportive and provided me with mental exercises to help improve my self-confidence and self-talk before and after racing," Meaghan Rousset said. "At first I was hesitant to talk, but it was nice to have that support and know that it was okay to work through these mental challenges with someone else."
A team of researchers led by Andrew Wolanin and Eugene Hong spent three years monitoring mood levels of student-athletes and found that 6.3 percent met the criteria for clinical depression and 24 percent were considered "clinically relevant," a concerning level but not enough to warrant a diagnosis.
According to UNT Center for Sport Psychology director Dr. Trent Petrie, if you include anxiety and substance abuse, one in two student-athletes will deal with some mental health issue in their time on campus.
While the assignment wasn't designed to induce epiphanies of mental-health struggles, it helped a lot of student-athletes shed light on their issues. Even though she procrastinated a bit, once Kathleen began to punch the keys on her laptop, the flood gates opened and she got lost in the realizations.
"It all poured out. It was easy to talk about and it felt good to get it off my chest. I can't speak for everyone else, but investing in it made a difference for me."
While everyone had the option to share it in their team meeting, she chose not to, but she had a change of heart after seeing an article from a friend and a rower at Texas about her mental health problems as a student-athlete.
"It inspired me to reach out to do the same and help other people."
Jensen also had no intentions of sharing her letter but, after reading the letter to her parents, realized that her words could have an impact on others. She even went as far as to post it to social media.
"I wanted to invite my friends and family into my life and reveal the struggles and triumphs I experience both big and small, and in and out of the pool," Jensen said.
It can be difficult for international student-athletes such as Jensen, a native of Auckland, New Zealand, to find a support staff for her mental health. However, she was matched with a host family when she came to her international orientation, and they have played a vital role in her life in America.
"My American family has not only opened their home to me, shown me their love in sharing their own family – and a lot of food – but also been a spiritual support system," Jensen said. "They provide a safe place when I let the pressure of my studies, friendships and sporting performance weigh me down."
After hearing those who opted to share, the team found out they're not so different in their struggles and it created a stronger bond.
"If we're struggling together, we can reach the same goals together," Kathleen Rousset said. "Getting down to what's bothering us can really help all of us pull each other up together to reach those goals."
In the somewhat individualized sport of swimming that is driven by solo performances, student-athletes can get lost in personal expectations and goal times.
"It's different compared to more team-oriented sports," Meaghan Rousset said. "There's pressure to perform well for ourselves and the team. It's really easy for me to evaluate how I do based on something concrete like times. We all have high expectations and not performing to those is a challenging experience."
Perhaps the biggest issue surrounding mental health around student-athletes is the stigma, because no one wants to appear weak, especially an athlete.
"You forget that everyone deals with these same things," Kathleen Rousset said. "Even if they seem minor, if they affect you in a negative way, they can become bigger problems later."
And the first step to prevent those problems from ballooning is to talk or to break out your laptop and write out your feelings in a letter.
"I hope that each person takes the time to invest in their mental health and seek out resources that suits them best," Jensen said. "Looking after your mental health is as important as performing as an athlete. You won't be able to have good results unless you invest in the process."
"Don't be afraid to talk about what's going on," Kathleen Rousset said. "Everyone deals with these problems. It can only help to reach out to someone. Keep on pushing through and stay positive. It's okay to be upset. Know how to be kind to yourself. Be comfortable with who you are."
Players Mentioned
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Breast/IM
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Breast/IM
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