Why the separation?
Trigger warning: This blog post mentions suicide & depression.
During the spring of 2022, there were 5 female athletes who died by suicide. Not only that but in the past year, at least 5 NCAA athletes have died by suicide including 4 women and 1 man.
Women’s soccer player Leeann Passaro never minded working hard. “I was not soft,” she said. It had always been her dream to play soccer in college, but when her former high school teammate Madison Holleran died by suicide at age 19 in 2014, she started to rethink her dream. Because Passaro was a perfectionist, she felt the need to be the best, not only in sports but also in school. Then, she suffered a concussion and began struggling with anxiety as well as depression. After finding help, she decided it would be the best idea for her health to play Division 3 instead of Division 1. She found it easy to seek out help and was comfortable doing so.
But is there a difference between female and male athletes? In the fall of 2021, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) ran its annual survey and found that 24% of male and 36% of female athletes were so depressed it was hard for them to continue to function. Also in that survey, they found that mental exhaustion, anxiety, and depression levels were higher than before the pandemic.
The survey showed 47% of women and 25% of men felt overwhelmed, 38% of women and 22% of men felt mentally exhausted, and 29% of women and 12% of men felt overwhelming anxiety.
Now, why is there a split? While both genders face being judged on their looks, female athletes are more likely to be judged by attractiveness and physical appearance, while male athletes are typically judged based on just their performance and skill. During the 2015 Australian Open, Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard was asked by the announcer to “give us a twirl”.
In sum, there are many reasons why female athletes may struggle with their mental health more than male athletes, however, all athletes’ mental health is important and they should all be taken care of.
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