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UGA Director of Mental Health & Performance Dylan Firsick speaks with ABH Georgia beat writer Marc Weiszer.
Joshua L. Jones, Athens Banner-Herald
— Editors note: This is Part Two in a series about mental health and college athletics. Here is Part One and Part Three.
This series contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the suicide prevention hotline at 800-273-8255 .
At a time when player transfers, compensating athletes for their name, image and likeness and conference expansion take up so much bandwidth in college sports, the first issue on each meeting agenda when SEC athletic directors, coaches and presidents gathered this May in Destin, Fla. was mental health.
“There’s something different happening,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. “Maybe we’re just more aware which is the good side of it, but we’re hearing it more and more.”
Dylan Firsick was hired in November at Georgia for the newly created position of assistant athletic director for mental health and performance to oversee the well being of some 550 UGA athletes.
“The problem that everybody is trying to answer across the country when it comes to college mental health is how do you provide adequate resources to this large group of students?” Firsick said.
The need at Georgia and nationally is growing.
About 44 percent of Georgia athletes had at least one individual meeting with Firsick or other clinicians in the Georgia mental health and performance department in the previous academic year. The demand was even higher at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when classes went online, sports seasons came to a halt and there was much uncertainty.
“I think it’s really important for people to remember that these Georgia athletes are also like 18-year old college students,” he said. “The transition to college, the adjustment from a workload and scheduling demand, the transition to living on your own for the first time, the increased academic expectations, so you deal with all the same that you see in a general student population, you just amplify that by the performance expectation and being a Division I athlete at a very prominent Power 5 institution. It just adds and amplifies all of that.”
College athletes are feeling 1.5 to 2 times higher rates of mental exhaustion, anxiety, and depression than prior to the pandemic, according to an NCAA survey conducted Nov. 17-Dec 13, 2021. Less than half reported they would feel comfortable seeking mental health services on campus. Women’s sports athletes reported feeling mentally exhausted 38 percent of the time compared to 22 percent of men’s sports athletes.
Michigan director of athletic counseling Abigail Eiler said on Sirius XM there was nearly a 10,000 appointment increase across Big Ten schools from 2019-2020 to 2020-21. She said athletes are more likely to reach out and coaches and professors are more apt to make referrals.
UGA pours resources into mental health
Firsick and Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks, hired in January 2021, took steps to grow resources for UGA athletes. The Athletic Association expanded services offered to help athletes deal with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders and performance anxiety.
They created two new positions for Brad Hambrick, a licensed professional counselor, and Charlotte Warren, a licensed clinical social worker, who were previously contracted through Piedmont Athens Regional. They join mental health and performance coordinator Lovie Tabron and medical assistant Delta Thomas. Psychiatrist David Paulk serves in a part-time role.
Firsick and staff, whose new offices are on the fourth floor of Stegeman Coliseum, have created a training program of a postdoctoral fellowship in sports psychology and created four graduate student advance practicum positions in partnership with the UGA counseling psychology Ph.D program.
“We’ve effectively, in about six months, more than doubled when you think about the clinical hours we will be able to offer through our training positions,” said Firsick, a licensed psychologist and certified mental performance consultant who was hired from a position working for Southern Cal athletics.
Firsick believes Georgia is in the top third in the SEC in mental health services for athletes and believes his department will only grow. South Carolina has six mental health professionals including three psychologists and a psychiatrist. Alabama is adding four licensed social workers, AD Greg Byrne told WVTM TV this summer.
Georgia’s budget for mental health and performance went from $123,262 to $609,275 entering fiscal year 2023.
“It’s not just college athletes; it’s college students in general,” Brooks said. “We recognize that. We’re dealing with a lot of high-performing student-athletes that put a lot of pressure on themselves. We’re learning that the support we give them in that area goes a long way. They’ve embraced it. So we want to support them on the court, on the field, in the classroom.”
Georgia athletic donors contributions go to such things as facilities, but they are now told they can direct their money to mental well-being and psychological resources.
Bulldog Club executive director Ford Williams, who oversees the fundraising arm of athletics, talked to a donor about a next gift being used for mental health. He said it went from a small six-figure conversation to a seven-figure conversation. The school last month announced a major donation from Brian and Shelly Satisky towards mental health and performance.
“That’s something we’ve never talked to our donors about before,” Williams said.
UGA president Jere Morehead directed $1 million in private funds over a two-year period to expand mental health and well-being services on campus. The school created a position for an associate vice president for student well-being.
In a message to students before the new semester, UGA vice president for student affairs Victor K. Wilson encouraged students to “take time to focus on your mental health in particular. When it comes to your health and well-being, know that you have the support you need, any time, any place.” He offered links to UGA well-being resources and counseling and psychiatric services.
“So many kids we have now are running into mental health issues,” Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said at an appearance at the Augusta Boys & Girls Club in April.
He said the mental health professionals UGA uses talk to his players about disappointment they feel for their on-field performance or from expectations from their family.
“We’ve had several kids that had anxiety… due to the pressures they put on themselves,” he said. “Go back 20 to 30 years ago, that’s not happening. When I went to school at Georgia, I wasn’t reading what people were saying about me, thank God. You can’t deal with that much pressure and these kids, especially at the University of Georgia, they’re under a microscope.”
Out in the open by making it ‘OK’
Smart on his radio show in December of 2019 said when he played in the 1990s, “sports psychology we had was a crack of a whip.”
“The biggest thing with what we do with mental health is making sure we bring up the subject,” said gymnastics coach Courtney Kupets-Carter who said she gives her athletes resources of where they can get help. “We make sure we give them an avenue to make sure they tell us how they’re doing and to make it OK. I think a lot of times if someone’s feeling something or having trouble, they think they’re alone in that and they’re not. It’s very typical. If those things are happening, we want to bring up the topic or subject just to make sure they’re OK. If they’re not, it’s not a big deal. It’s common.”
Firsick said the stigma of mental health has diminished in the last several years because pro athletes like Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and tennis’ Naomi Osaka have gone public with their struggles.
UCLA football player Thomas Cole retired from the sport after a suicide attempt. Oregon punter Tom Snee left the program citing his mental health. Ohio State offensive lineman Harry Miller retired from football after mental health struggles. Alabama offensive lineman Javion Cohen spent time this summer in a rehab facility for what he said was for “mental health reasons.”
Several Division I college athletes died of suicide in the last school year.
Georgia’s softball team talked about it after James Madison’s Lauren Bernett took her own life in April. Stanford soccer goalie Katie Meyer and Wisconsin runner Sarah Shulze also committed suicide.
“A lot of people feel lonely and they feel they can’t talk to someone about their problems or their issues,” Georgia softball player Lacey Fincher said. “I feel the University of Georgia does a very good job of being there for someone. No matter what they’re going through.”
Firsick says it’s important to be as integrated in teams at Georgia as a strength coach or nutritionist. So he goes by team practices so players can see him and feel comfortable turning to him or his staff.
Georgia in the past used licensed practitioners for mental health services.
Paulk, the psychiatrist, had an on-campus clinic three days a week and previously directed the behavioral medicine program for UGA athletes. He was a Piedmont Athens Regional employee, but UGA athletics assisted in his compensation.
Georgia contracts with a part-time sports psychologist, Dr. Drew Brannon. He works with kicker Jack Podlesny and previously with quarterback JT Daniels who reached out for help when the former five-star recruit was trying to come back from a torn ACL.
Mark Richt, Georgia’s football coach from 2001-15, said he did not have a sports psychologist during his time with the program.
“Truthfully, our team chaplains served in that role,” he said. “They had a ministry of availability I called it. They were there at practice and the weight room and mat drills (workouts). They were just always there.”
That included road trips. Richt said they helped players grow not only spiritually but served as confidantes in case a player didn’t feel comfortable speaking to a coach.
The mother of a player called Richt in the middle of the night because “he was thinking about ending it.” Richt called team chaplain Kevin Hynes, his brother-in-law.
Another former player, Tra Battle, has gone public with his story. Battle, who already had played in the NFL, called one evening from a bridge to let Richt know that he was planning to commit suicide.
Richt said Battle was greatly affected by the suicide of his friend and former UGA teammate Paul Oliver after his NFL career ended.
“In football, someone relatively young in your life is going to tell you, you’re not good enough, we don’t need you anymore,” Richt said. “All of a sudden there’s a crisis of identity. So he was going through that. He was feeling, just not good thoughts. He was seriously considering ending it for himself, but he said somehow, something hit his spirit that said call Coach. Thankfully, I was there to answer it.”
‘Very involved’ to manage increased need
Suicide rates for youth between ages 10-24 increased by 57 percent between 2007-2018 and it’s estimated that there were more than 6,600 deaths by suicide in that age group in 2020, according to the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s advisory “Protecting Youth Mental Health” in December of 2021. One in three high school students and half of female students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2019, up 40 percent from 10 years earlier.
Georgia’s behavioral medicine staff held Zooms with teams and telemedicine with individual athletes at the start of the pandemic with an uptick in caseloads. Tabron joined on the women’s basketball’s first remote team meetings and offered guidance to the track coaches on how the program could cope with the swift changes.
“We get regular talks with them,” men’s tennis coach Manuel Diaz said. “They go in for individual talks, how to handle pressure, how to deal with stress. They are very involved, a huge asset and a huge component of what we do.”
A series of online modules were accessible for mental health services.
The uncertainty of whether seasons would be played caused anxiety as did going to remote learning.
“We’ve always had great, phenomenal student-athlete services,” Brooks said. “But at the same time, we have to be able to pivot and adjust. During these times we had a lot more Zoom, online versions of that.”
Smart said prior to the pandemic that psychologists help not only players, but offer an angle for coaches on the right approach to take with players. He said players may turn for help on focus or a lack of confidence.
At Florida, athletic director Scott Stricklin said he’s tried to provide more avenues for athletes to voice concern after its women’s basketball and soccer coaches were fired due to mistreatment of players.
“It can be intimidating if the only person they can go talk to is their head coach,” he said. “Make sure they have some other outlets anonymously if they choose to report concerns or issues.”
Florida has seven mental health professionals that work with athletes, some who work on campus or in town and work on a contract basis.
“Clearly the pressures have changed,” said Kentucky’s Mitch Barnhart, the dean of SEC athletic directors. “The environment with people watching everything that goes on with our young people, everything that goes on with our programs is at the highest level in the history of what we do. I think they feel a lot of pressure.”
There are pressures in performing in competition and finding balance in their lives off the playing field and doing it in a world where “social media is always in your face,” Georgia softball coach Tony Baldwin said. “The idea that everybody is putting their best stuff out on social media like they live this perfect life. That creates the pressure that you to have to live the perfect life. Most of that is not real even though it feels that way. We talk a lot about our perspective and why we do what we do, why are we playing the game that we’re playing.”
Baldwin said he knows he’ll be judged ultimately by how much he wins at a program with a history of reaching the College World Series.
“We constantly are trying to talk about perspective and the freedom to go find joy in competing and the outcomes will come and go and that’s just part of the territory,” he said. “How do we enjoy the process of competing and striving for something is really what I think is ultimately what leads to a better mental health.”
Barnhart said about five years ago, Kentucky and others turned to resources across campus for help.
“Now we’re sort of pulling those resources inside our departments and saying how we can move forward,” he said
Jim Madeleeno, UK’s head football trainer, now also oversees mental health and nutrition.
“What we really know from the research and really what I think we’ve seen across the mental landscape is that the full, happy person will be optimally performing,” Georgia’s Firsick said. “We have to be meeting the need, not just in terms of sport identity, but the entire person, and it if we can do that then we can really help athletes achieve and excel.”
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