Is India Ignoring Its Athletes’ Mental Health?

Normalising conversations around mental health in sports is the gateway for positive mental wellbeing and the best performance by Indian athletes.

Rebekah Wilson, a member of Great Britain’s two-woman bobsleigh crew at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, turned to self-harm to deal with the pressure of the elite sporting competition.

Aspiring Indian shooter Konica Layak took her life in her hostel room after she was disqualified for target manipulation at a tournament.

These two instances only skim the surface of the mental health quagmire in competitive sports.

They also raise questions for coaches, high-performance directors, sport psychologists, parents, peers and others about their roles, and responsibilities towards athletes in the sports ecosystem.

For the first time, two sports — archery and shooting — out of the 16 India has shortlisted for the Paris Olympics, include a sports psychologist as part of their squad.

But the other 14 sports have a supporting contingent of only coaches, physiotherapists and strength and conditioning coaches.

Although the Indian Olympic Association has recognised the importance of mental health support for the athletes by introducing initiatives such as a mindfulness app, the gap in overcoming the stigma around mental health remains.

The taboo around mental health

Indian sporting culture has been described as unorganised and neglectful of the psychological health of athletes, especially during international sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games or the Olympics.

Athletes are expected to perform with great zeal and passion.

The excitement, nationalist ardour, glamour and high stakes surrounding national and international sporting events often lead to athletes being treated as “just performers”, not humans who can suffer from burnout, chronic fatigue syndrome, anxiety, depression, eating disorders and other mental health conditions.

The grit of Indian athletes is notable.

India’s 650-strong contingent won a record 107 medals at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

The medals, won by athletes such as Mirabai Chanu, the prolific weightlifter from Manipur, and Dipa Karmakar, an Indian gymnast from Tripura — India’s first female gymnast to compete in the Olympics — were not easy.

Most of these athletes came from rural backgrounds and worked hard to succeed in the face of a lack of funding, rampant corruption and the overall apathy that plagues the sporting system.

The case of Indian para-athletes is no different. Sumit Antil and javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia — the first Indian to win two gold medals at the Paralympics — have represented India for four decades and created a glittering legacy that inspires other athletes.

However, they have received attention only when they earned medals at prestigious events like the Paralympics. Many para-athletes fail to get the support they need and their voices are often overlooked.

Misconceptions around mental health prevents athletes from seeking support. Many people view sports psychology as only for elite athletes such as golfers.

The excessive attention paid to the physical health of athletes also prevents them from acknowledging that it is okay to be not okay.

Athletes often feel that showing their emotions is a sign of weakness.

The superhero image of a “mentally tough” athlete is given an uneasy pedestal by those invested in their performance, especially coaches.

This leads to other athletes being reticent about their mental health or carrying psychological bruises that can significantly affect their wellbeing, both before, during and after a high-profile sporting event.

There are exceptions.

In an interview with the author, an eminent Indian shooter and former Arjuna Award winner spoke about the loneliness she felt in her line of work due to time constraints and excessive travel to attend competitions.

She described her mother as a constant source of support and said she met a sports psychologist when the pressure on her felt intense and insurmountable.

Another internationally ranked shooter in 10-metre air pistol told the author that her journey towards success involved complete abstinence from social media. She took care of her mental health through different strategies such as writing a journal, listening to music and practising mindfulness.

What needs to change

Addressing athletes’ mental health concerns should not be a piecemeal or selective approach.

Sports policy in India can focus on bottom-up processing as compared to a top-down approach where the mental health of all athletes is considered.

Breaking the stigma around mental health can incorporate the training of the coaches and officials who need to be sensitised towards mental health issues and promote positive mental wellbeing.

Another approach may include private organisations such as Olympic Gold Quest and other organisations that identify, train and provide funding to  athletes who have won a medal at an international event.

Millions of rupees are spent on advertisements featuring sports aces such as badminton player P.V. Sindhu or cricketer Virat Kohli, assigning to them an almost mythical status. These ads, featuring heroic figures, sensitise the audience about mental health.

One of the prolific stars of the Indian wrestling squad, Bajrang Punia, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, spoke about his mental discomfort and insecurity during 2020 COVID lockdowns.

Such instances of normalising conversations around mental health in sports is the gateway for positive mental well-being and optimum performance by athletes.

Let us not place conditions of worth on the performance of Indian athletes and reduce them to the status of mere performers.

(Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™)