Supporting Mental Health in our Student Athletes

Premera Blue Cross and University of Washington partnered in sharing how UW athletes manage the stress of collegiate sports participation — everything from calling parents to caring for pets to coloring in a coloring book. The conversations were shared via social media – View this post on Instagram

Polo DeCano, the student-athlete wellness services coordinator for the UW athletic department, told NBC affiliate KING in Seattle that he’s observed more students struggling with their mental health and he attributes something we all use.

“There’s nothing stopping us from looking at our phones,” DeCano said. “We are more inclined to just be impulsive. That part of the brain is also responsible for emotion regulation. And young people are often less practiced at regulating their emotion.”

DeCano shared this pointer for parents of any student-athlete who wants to be a teammate around mental health.

“Don’t ask them if they won the first thing, because that’s what you’re telling them that the most important thing is whether they won,” DeCano said. “They’ll let you know.”

Instead, DeCano recommends these post-competition conversation prompts:

• Did you try your hardest?
• What did you get better at?
• What did you do well?
• Did you have fun?

“I think one of the core pieces I really hope that young people take away is that whatever difficult situation they’re in, whatever that is, it’s temporary,” DeCano told KING’s Evening, as reported this week. “It’s not always going to be that way. And it may feel unbearable, but it will pass.”

Premera offers an array of mental health support, visit Premera.com/mentalhealth for more information.